140 



NOTES. 



Blue Headed Wagtail. " A pair of this species was discovered 

 in the Manton water meadows, where they nested and successfully 

 reared their young, the observer (G. Dent, of Marlborough College) 

 watching them daily throughout the process. The distinguishing 

 characters of this probably overlooked species were carefully noted and 

 compared with those of the yellow wagtail, of which a pair subsequently 

 nested in the same meadow. Full particulars of this interesting ob- 

 servation were published in ' Bird Life.' " 



Marlborough Coll. Nat. Hist. Soc. Report for 1907, p. 76. 



White-Tailed Eagle shot at Mar den On the evening of 



February 24th, just before sunset, J. Alexander, keeper to Mr. J. W. 

 Kingston, of Marden Manor, saw a large bird fly out of some firs on Mr. 

 Cooper's farm on Marden Down, shot it, and found it was an Eagle 

 measuring 7ft. 2in. from tip to tip of the extended wings and weighing 

 131bs. The bird was accused of having killed two lambs. It was re- 

 ported in all the local papers, Marlborough Times, March 6th, Devizes 

 Gazette, March 15th, as a Golden Eagle, as these wandering Eagles 

 almost invariably are — whereas in this case, as in probably almost every 

 case of the occurrence of Eagles in the southern counties, the bird is not 

 the Golden Eagle, but theWhite-Tailed or Sea Eagle,iZa^'«?etes albicilla. 

 The bird killed at Littlecote in 1847, the magnificent specimen preserved 

 at Charlton Park, killed in 1841, another shot in Savernake Forest in 1859, 

 and the example recently killed at Groveley were all of this species. 

 The Rev. A. C. Smith {Birds of Wilts, p. 60) was unable to record any 

 example or occurrence of the Golden Eagle in the county of Wilts, and 

 was strongly of opinion that it had not been correctly recorded from 

 neighbouring counties where it is said to have been shot. The Golden 

 Eagle in fact seldom leaves its home in the Highlands, where it is now 

 happily fairly abundant, whereas the White-Tailed Eagle is a great 

 wanderer. I am indebted to Messrs. Eowland Ward, who are preserving 

 the bird, for an authoritative statement as to its species. 



Ed. H. Goddaed. 



Red- Throated Diver at Wy ly e . At the beginning of February, 

 1909, a railway ganger at Wylye found a bird lying injured on the 

 line, probably from flying against the telegraph wires. He killed it, and 

 it was taken to the Rev. G. R. Hadow, who sent it for preservation to 

 Mr. White, of Salisbury, by whom it was pronounced to be a Red-Throated 

 Diver. It is now in Mr. Hadow's possession. Three specimens only of 

 this bird are recorded for Wiltshire by the Rev. A. C. Smith, from 

 Lyneham, Erlestoke, and Knoyle Down. 



