NOTES AND QUERIES. 463 
at South Newington, near here, when a single Partridge rose in front 
of him, and he shot it. On going to pick up the bird he found that 
it had risen from a nest of eight eggs placed at the side of a swede. 
That laying was still going on was afterwards proved by finding a 
fully developed egg in the bird when it was dressed for the table. 
The summer of that year was very wet and cold (and October, too, 
was a wet month), and probably the later broods and nests all 
perished, though the early ones got off, and it is possible that these 
October eges were laid by a bird which lost her nest in June, and 
did not make another attempt to rear a brood during the summer.— 
O. V. Apnin (Bloxham, Oxon). 
Little Terns on Ayrshire Coast.—In August last, on the Ayrshire 
coast, seven miles south of Girvan, I saw four Little Terns (Sterna 
minuta), two parent birds and two young, the old birds feeding the 
young as they sat on the sand. They rose as I approached, and I 
shot one of the young, which I have had prepared as a museum 
specimen. As far as I can gather from local authorities, the bird has 
never been seen on this coast before —Metvin H. Ratrray (Bootham 
School, York). 
The Fulmar.—Mr. Harvie-Brown, in his interesting paper on this 
bird, quotes (p. 408) from my first Spitzbergen paper in ‘The Zoolo- 
gist’ for 1882 (though under a designation almost amounting to an 
alias), but has perhaps overlooked the notes on my second expedition, 
published in ‘The Zoologist’ for 1883-4. In that paper (1883, 
p. 485) he will find nearly half a page additional devoted to this 
question of grey plumage. When writing the article on this species 
for the fourth edition of ‘ Yarrell, Mr. Howard Saunders wrote to 
me concerning the dark form, which he considered as something 
rare, but I could only tell him that out of the thousands I had seen 
not one seemed to tally with the description of the light phase. 
Apparently he could not credit the statement, judging by what he 
published there, and subsequently in his ‘ Manual.’ .He did not give 
his authority for the statement in both works that round Spitzbergen 
both forms are numerous.—ALFRED H. Cocks (Poynetts, Skirmett, 
near Henley-on-Thames). 
Technical Terms for Assemblies of Birds. — Referring to the 
notes on this subject (ante, p. 440), may I suggest a few terms 
for some of the commoner species :—A mock of Starlings, perched ; 
a glint of Starlings, feeding ; a wave of Starlings, flying; a school 
of Jackdaws; a nibble of Bullfinches, feeding; a squad of Rooks; 
