Birds. 



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spotted woodpeckers. These occurred about tbe same time as those I have named — 

 three at Wells, six at Lynn, and three at Wisbeach. A little gull (immature) was 

 also shot at Lynn last week, aud a Temminck's stint near Yarmouth. — H. Stevenson ; 

 Norwich. 



Great Spotted Woodpecker, Little Auk and Crossbills in the Isle of Wight. — A fine 

 male specimen of the spotted woodpecker was shot on Headon Hill, on the 8th of 

 October: this is the second specimen that has been shot at Freshwater : the bird is 

 only an occasional visitor with us. Two specimens of the little auk were also shot 

 at Freshwater Bay, one by myself, the other by Mr. T. Murrow, of the Royal Albion 

 Hotel. Several flocks of crossbills have been seen here within the last week, but I 

 have not been fortunate enough to obtain a specimen yet. — H. Rogers ; Isle of Wight. 



Greater Spotted Woodpecker in Cambridgeshire. — This species has been unusually 

 numerous this autumn, more particularly birds of the year. I should be glad to learn 

 if this has beeu the case in any other neighbourhood. — S. P. Saville ; Dover House, 

 Cambridge. 



Note on the possible Existence of a huge Bird allied to the Moa. — The following 

 extract from the ' Nelson Examiner,' of June 12, 1861, will afford ground for much 

 speculation on the possible existence of one of those gigantic birds of the southern 

 hemisphere which all authorities have agreed in supposing to be extinct: — " About 

 three weeks ago, while Mr. Brunner, chief surveyor of the province, and Mr. Maling, 

 of the Survey Department, accompanied by a native, were engaged in surveying on 

 the ranges between the Riwaka and Takaka valleys, they observed, one morning, on 

 going to their work, the footprints of what appeared to be a large bird, whose tracks 

 they followed for a short distance, but lost them at length among rocks and scrub. 

 The size of the footprints, which were well defined wherever the ground was soft, was 

 fourteen inches in length, with a spread of eleven inches at the points of the three 

 toes. The footprints were about thirty inches apart. On examining the bones of the 

 foot of a moa in the Museum, w r e find the toe to measure, without integuments, eight 

 inches and a half, and these evidently form part of a skeleton of a very large bird : 

 the length of the impression of the toe of the bird in question was ten inches. The 

 native who was in company with Messrs. Brunner and Maling was utterly at a loss to 

 conjecture what bird could have made such a footprint, as he had never seen anything 

 of the kind before. On a subsequent morning similar marks were again seen, and, as 

 a proof that they had been made during the night, it was observed that some of them 

 covered the footprints of those the party made the preceding evening. The size of 

 these footprints, and the great stride of the supposed bird, has led to a belief that a 

 solitary moa may yet be in existence. The district is full of limestone caves of the 

 same character as those in which such a quantity of moa bones were found, about two 

 years ago, in the neighbouring district of Aorere. We believe it is the intention of 

 the Government to take steps to ascertain the character of this gigantic bird, whether 

 moa or not, which keeps watch in these solitudes." A tale has found some currency 

 that huge apes have been seen in the interior of Australia, but this seems very 

 apocryphal. — Edicard Newman. 



The Goosander and Spotted Rail in Leicestershire. — As ornithological events are 

 unusual in Leicestershire, it may be yvorth while to record the goosander and the 

 spotted rail, both of which were shot in this neighbourhood. The former, a very fine 

 female, I shot as it was passing over my head by itself, near this place (Kibworth), on 

 November 18th, during a hard frost. The spotted rail was killed a short distance 



