136 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



p. 130). Among other things, Miss Turner observed that these 

 young Cormorants, when little more than a fortnight old, had 

 the same habit as young Gannets of extending and flapping 

 their wings. This is supposed to be done to relax the ligaments 

 and strengthen the pectoral muscles before the final day of 

 departure comes. On August 4th Lord Hastings wrote that the 

 young Cormorants were on the wing, but I was unable to go and 

 see them again. Soon after this some stranger Cormorants from 

 the sea paid them a visit, and on August 20th, to Miss Turner's 

 great surprise, there were no less than ten on the lake. As Miss 

 Turner had to leave, the exact date on which the young took 

 their final departure was not noted, but they all got away safely. 



12th. — A Barn-Owl's nest t in a hollow elm at Ellingham 

 contained, in addition to the usual Mice-pellets, the skin of a 

 Mole and a freshly-killed Frog. An instance of their feeding 

 upon Frogs is given in 'British Birds ' (vol. v. p. 113), but it 

 must be very uncommon. Neither Altum nor Fernard Lataste 

 include the Frog in their lists. For a Tawny Owl to offer its 

 young a Toad (' Zoologist,' 1913, p. 231) is still more remark- 

 able, for the Toad is a most unpalatable creature. On this 

 occasion, besides the young Barn-Owls, both the old ones were 

 present in the elm-tree, which again is not customary when the 

 young have attained a large size. 



13th. — A Bluethroat (the only one this year) was caught 

 alive at Yarmouth yesterday, having entangled itself in a net 

 placed over fruit bushes (B. Dye) ; this is the first occurrence 

 in June. 



14th. — Sixteen Canada Geese in single file flew over Mr. 

 Chasen at Yarmouth, probably the same flock which again passed 

 Yarmouth on the 17th (B. Dye). 



17th. — Three Crossbills seen at Northrepps by Mr. Burdett, 

 and in the afternoon another flock of four. On the 19th he 

 again saw four ; on the 24th, two ; and on the 29th, twelve. A 

 few also turned up in July, but none after the 29th. 



July. 



1st. — This was the hottest day of the year, the thermometer 

 standing at 87'3. Among other events attributable to this state 

 of things was the successful hatching out of eight Bhea's eggs. 



