6096 



Birds 



to the discordancy of their statements as to the plumage of the partridges in question. 

 — C. Atkinson; Dandy Parsonage^ Grosmont^ York, March, 1858. 



Occurrence of the Broad-billed Sandpiper (Tringa platyrhynca) for the third time 

 in Norfolk. — I have just purchased a specimen of this rare sandpiper, which was 

 killed on the 23rd of April, near Yarmouth, I believe on Braydon Broad. This bird 

 is a male, gradually assuming its summer plumage: the rufous edjjings to the feathers 

 appearing over the head, back and scapulars. The first British specimen recorded 

 was also, according to Mr. Yarrell, obtained on the muddy flats of Braydon, on the 

 2oth of May, 1836: the sex in this case was not ascertaiued. From that time no 

 others had been noticed until a male, in very similar plumage to the one recently pro- 

 cured, was shot at the same place, and, singularly enough, on the same day of the 

 same month. May 25th, 1856. In each case they appear to have been picked out 

 from amongst dunlins and ring plovers. — H. Stevenson ; Nonvich, May 1, 1858. 



Occurrence of the Glossy Ibis in South Wales. — I have received, for the purpose 

 of preservation, a very fine specimen of the glossy ibis, killed on the 19th of this 

 month, at Langharne Marsh, near St. Clears, Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Also, 

 a male specimen of the gray shrike, killed at Loughton, Essex, on the 12th of 

 this month. — Thomas Hall; London Wall, April 29, 1858. 



Occurrence of the Dusky Petrel (Puffinus obscurus) in Norfolk. — A county that 

 can claim the first British specimen of Steller's western duck, and more recently the 

 only specimen of the capped petrel ever obtained in this kingdom, besides many other 

 rarities, may be fairly considered without further additions a " rich ornithological dis- 

 trict." I have the pleasure, however, of recording a not less interesting capture than 

 either of those above-mentioned, in the fact of a dusky petrel, the true Puffinus obscu- 

 rus, of Gould, having been picked up dead in this county. About the 10th of this 

 month a strange bird was found dead by the gamekeeper, on the estate of Captain 

 Meade, at Earsham, near Bungay. It was at once sent to a bird-preserver in this city 

 to be stuffed, in whose possession I first saw it, but, unfortunately, not until it had 

 been skinned and set up. Its smaller size at once distinguished this bird from the 

 manx shearwater {Pnffiiius anglorum), and its exact resemblance to the figure of the 

 dusky petrel in Mr. Yarrell's last ' Supplement,' added to the length and other mea- 

 surements, perfectly agreeing with the description there given of this rare species, no 

 doubt could well exist as to its identity. I might also stale that the bird-stufi'er 

 having copied exactly the attitude of the bird as delineated in Yarrell, the resemblance, 

 even at first sight, was more strongly marked. This specimen proved to be a male, 

 but in very poor condition. It had evidently not been shot, but a wound on one side 

 of the head, as though it had been hit, or had flown violently against something, was 

 probably the cause of its being found dead. Except on the side of the head, 

 as stated, the feathers were perfectly clean and unruffled, but the inner web of one foot 

 was partially nibbled away, as though a mouse or some other vermin had been at it, 

 luckily without doing further injury. It is particularly interesting, through this 

 second appearance on our coasts, to establish the claim of this petrel to a place in our 

 British list, especially since the first specimen had no stronger right to be so called, 

 than the fact of its having flown on board a sloop near the Island of Valenlia, off the 

 south-west coast of Ireland. The following description of the plumage, in this 

 instance, will be found to differ but little from that given by Mr. Yarrell, except that 

 this bird is perhaps more in a state of change. Top and sides of the head, neck 



