Miscellaneous, 



353 



assembled in such vast numbers, that two or three hundred were killed 

 with stones and other missiles, whilst several were caught alive ; and 

 so tame were they, that many were observed to pitch on the backs 

 of passers-by. This tern, as its name indicates, is a native of the 

 higher arctic regions, and has been met w r ith in all the late expeditions 

 to the Polar Seas. It is a summer visitant to the coasts of Scotland 

 and the north of England, but is rarely met with more southerly, and 

 until the present, there was no instance on record of a specimen ha- 

 ving been obtained in this neighbourhood. The appearance of such 

 vast nights of Arctic birds, rare as a species, in the very heart of a 

 large city, is an occurrence as remarkable as it is interesting. Flocks 

 of these birds were also observed the same day at Clevedon, Weston, 

 and other places along the channel coast. — Bristol Mirror. 



[We have heard from other correspondents that these Terns have 

 also made their appearance in numbers at Swansea and Monmouth 

 on the west of the Severn, and in Dorsetshire, Cornwall, and at 

 Bridgewater on the east. — Ed.] 



NORFOLK BIRDS. 



J. H. Gurney, Esq. of Norwich, favours us with the following 

 information : — 



I beg to mention that a specimen of the Stilt Plover which has 

 not been killed in Norfolk for many years, was shot a few days since 

 at Hickling near Yarmouth ; it is apparently a bird of last year, and 

 is a female, containing ova of about the size of a shot. 



A specimen of the Avocet was also killed at or near Yarmouth a 

 few days since, This bird is now extremely rare here, though within 

 the memory of many now living it bred plentifully every spring on 

 some parts of our coast. 



Since my last I have had a second specimen of the Richard's Pipit 

 killed at Yarmouth, and also a specimen of the Hoopoe killed at Tri- 

 mingham near Cromer. 



A Shark was caught off the latter place about six weeks since, 

 which I believe to be of the species described as the " Greenland 

 Shark." It is about five feet long and of a dull purple colour, and is 

 now in the Norwich Museum. — J. H. Gurney. 



Norwich, May 9, 1842. 



Since writing to thee a few days since, I have seen a specimen of 

 the Grey-headed yellow Wagtail (Motacilla neglecta) which was 

 killed about a fortnight since at Sherringham on this coast. It ap- 

 pears to be a male bird, and I have some reason to think that an- 

 other Wagtail which was killed about the same time and place, but 

 which unfortunately was not prepared, was the female belonging 

 to it. As I believe this to be the first instance of the bird having 

 been noticed in this county, I think it may perhaps be worth re- 

 cording. I am, respectfully, 



May 16, 1842. J. H. Gurney. 



MR. HASSALL ON SHOWERS OF POLLEN. 



The American Journal of Science and Arts for January 1842 

 (p. 195), contains some interesting remarks relative to two showers 



