428 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



AVES. 



The First Recorded British Example of the White-spotted Blue- 

 throat. — Having recently had an opportunity of examining the dis- 

 puted specimen of the White-spotted Bluethroat, obtained near Scar- 

 borough in April, 1876 (cf. Zool. 1902, p. 464 ; 1903, pp. 23, 431, 455 ; 

 1904, pp. 31, 263), and which I exhibited at the British Ornithologists' 

 Club on the 16th October last, I am pleased to be able to state that its 

 identity is fully established. It is in every way typical of the white- 

 spotted form (Cyanecula ivolfi), the white in the centre of the blue 

 throat being most distinct, and about half an inch in diameter. The 

 plumage, even after the lapse of thirty years, still retains its deep 

 intense hue. On questioning the present owner of the specimen as to 

 the facts of the occurrence, he corroborated in every respect the original 

 statements of the Rev. J. G. Tuck and Mr. W. Eagle Clarke, though, 

 as the females of the two forms of Bluethroat cannot be distinguished, 

 it is unfortunate that a misleading statement was made as to the sex of 

 this example, which accounts for its rejection by the authors of recent 

 ornithological works. In case any sceptic may proffer a suggestion 

 that it was an imported skin, my informant added that he remembers 

 his father bringing home the bird, telling him he had found it below 

 the telegraph-wires, and at the same time pointing out where it had 

 been damaged by coming in contact with them. For further par- 

 ticulars inquirers are referred to the ' Birds of Yorkshire,' i. pp. 38, 39. 

 — T. H. Nelson (The Cliffe, Redcar). 



Status of the Grey Wagtail (Motacilla melanope) in Yorkshire. — 

 Referring to the notes on this subject (ante, pp. 151 and 382), I may 

 state that this species is sparsely distributed along the moorland becks 

 immediately to the north of Scarborough, the eastern boundary of the 

 breeding haunts in Britain of this and several other species of birds. — 

 W. Gyngell (Gladstone Road, Scarborough). 



Richard's Pipit at Yarmouth. — An example of Richard's Pipit 

 (Anthus richardi) was netted on the North Denes at Yarmouth on 

 October 22nd, and is now in the possession of Mr. W. Lowne. A few 



