NOTES AND QUERIES. 71 



stomach contained haws. I have never seen Hawfinches here, but 

 used often when lying in ambush to watch them at Copenhurst, 

 Cheshire, some years ago. They bred there, and were not uncommon. 

 They used to work destruction in the kitchen-gardens — shelling the 

 peas, and ruining a whole row in an incredibly short space of time. — 

 William W. Flemyng (Coolfin, Portlaw, Co. Waterford). 



Bitterns in Suffolk. — During the recent hard weather two Bitterns 

 [Botaurus stellaris) have been shot in Suffolk — one at Bardwell, which 

 was preserved by Mr. Travis, of Bury, and the other at Thorndon, near 

 Eye, on Jan. 5th. The latter was shot in the evening by a farmer on 

 his flooded meadows, and taken to the rectory to be identified. The 

 parson, a naturalist-sportsman, was equal to the occasion, and by his 

 good offices it came into my possession in the flesh. It was a female, 

 and, as one might expect after the difficulty it must have found in 

 obtaining food in ice and snow, in poor condition, but in perfect 

 plumage. The rapid thaw on the night of Jan. 1st produced extra- 

 ordinary floods, turning our low-lying meadows into lakes, and on the 

 following morning I saw Gulls (probably Larus cartas) where I never 

 noticed any before. The attraction would doubtless be drowned worms. 

 Julian G. Tuck (Tostock Beetory, Bury St. Edmunds). 



Smew (Mergus albellus) in Cheshire. — On Jan. 15th Mr. T. Had- 

 field and I saw a Smew on Tatton Mere. The bird was swimming 

 among a number of Mallards, but its association with them was 

 perhaps only accidental, for when we put the birds up it separated 

 from the others, and went off at a great pace by itself. When we 

 came across it again in another part of the mere it seemed equally in- 

 different to the Mallards and other fowl which swam close to it from 

 time to time. It was a duck or an immature drake, having a rufous 

 crown, pure white cheeks, and a grey back. The bird swam low in 

 the water, but the pure white of its breast and belly were very con- 

 spicuous when it rolled, as a Grebe does, to preen itself. This species 

 is rare inland in Cheshire (c/. Zool. 1905, pp. 143, 144). — Charles 

 Oldham (Knutsford). 



Sabine's Snipe in Ireland. — Three specimens of this rare variety 

 have been shot in Ireland within a fortnight — one near Ballina, Co. 

 Mayo, on the 10th December ; one in Co. Leitrim, on the 15th ; and 

 the third in Co. Clare, on the 20th. The Co. Mayo and Clare speci- 

 mens are almost identical, having no appearance of the stripes on 

 back and head so noticeable in the Common Snipe ; under parts of 

 wings and axillaries sooty black ; breast, belly right down to tail, 



