394 \.\ THE ZOOLOGIST. 



ledge of the shore birds of the district guarantees their recognizing a 

 stranger. Their description of its coloration, &c, supports the idea of 

 its being an immature Flamingo (Phcenicopterus roseus, Pallas). On 

 Aug. 23rd. the ' Oithona ' returned to Orford Haven, entered the Aide, 

 and worked up and down the river to as far as Aldeburgh, leaving on 

 the 25th, but without seeing or hearing more of the bird in question. 

 In Yarrell's ' British Birds,' vol. iv, (1885), edited by Howard Saunders, 

 and in the latter's ' Manual ' (1899), reference is made to four instances 

 of Flamingoes, viz. Sheppey, August, 1873 (a doubtful escape) ; Staf- 

 fordshire, September, 1881 ; Hampshire, November, 1883 ; and South 

 Kent, August, 1884. I am unaware whether others have since been 

 recorded. Although this presumed Suffolk example has not been un- 

 mistakably identified, it may still be deemed worthy of notice, to be 

 taken for what it is worth, the possibility 'being that more may be 

 heard of the straggler. — J. Murie (Leigh-on-Sea, Essex). 



P.S. — A report ('Aldeburgh, Leiston, and Saxmundham Times') 

 states that the Flamingo seen on the Aide river was also noticed later 

 on the Woodbridge river. 



Red-crested Pochard at Yarmouth. — On September 4th thirteen 

 Ducks were observed to come in from seaward, and alight on the north- 

 west side of Breydon. An amateur puntsman named Youngs, who 

 was lurking under the " walls " hard by, immediately sculled after 

 them, and got a charge of B.B.'s into their midst with telling effect. 

 Nine were killed or maimed, and, although the birds had on arrival 

 appeared tired and remarkably tame, the wounded ones, by diving and 

 the use of their wings, gave him an arduous half-hour in retrieving 

 them by doubling after them, and the use of his shoulder-gun. One 

 bird, spoiled by decapitation for a " specimen," was eaten by Mr. 

 Youngs ; the other eight he sold to Mr. Saunders, the taxidermist, of 

 this town. A tenth wounded bird managed to reach the marshes, and 

 was lost, but was soon after picked out of a ditch by a marshman, who 

 ended its career in the oven. I called on Mr. Saunders on the 5th, 

 and saw four birds still in the flesh, four having already been made 

 into skins. They were unmistakably Red-crested Pochards ( Fuligula 

 feritia). They were, of course, by no means so distinguished in appear- 

 ance as birds shot in nuptial dress ; the plumage, to my mind, greatly 

 resembled that of an adult female Smew ; and, indeed, the general 

 contour of the birds was slim and rakish, like that dainty little 

 creature. The white shoulder-patches, and that of the lesser wing- 

 coverts, secondaries, and primaries, were very conspicuous. The toes 

 of six of the birds were Naples-yellow, with a suggestion of redness, the 



