Birds. 



7881 



Occurrence of the Great Gray Shrike at Jevington, Sussex. — A beautiful male 

 specimen of ihe great gray shrike (Lanins excubitor) was shot, on the 19th of Novemher 

 last, at Jevington, four miles from Eastbourne, by Mr. W. B. Read, fanner, of that 

 place, and is now in my possession. Mr. Read informs me that he several times 

 since saw another about the same spot, but has been unable to succeed in shooting it. 

 On dissection I found the head of a small mouse in the stomach, and which I have 

 preserved in alcohol. — John Duiton ; South Street, Eastbourne, December 18, 1881. 



Query about the Robin. — It is the general opinion in the North Riding of York- 

 shire that the young birds kill off the old ones. For two years I have endeavoured to 

 ascertaiu the truth of this opinion, but without success ; for, though the young ones 

 are common in June and July in the gardens and hedge-rows, yet the old birds are 

 very rare indeed. In August and September the well-known breast is common 

 enough. I should feel obliged by information as to whether this opinion prevails in 

 any other county, and if so, whether there are any grounds for it. — J. Ranson ; 

 York. 



Large Flocks of Magpies. — In reply to your correspondent's query (Zool. 7817) I 

 beg to state that previous to the year 1859 large flocks of magpies were frequently 

 observed in the neighbourhood of Stocksmoor, near Huddersfield, when the weather 

 was severe ; sometimes they numbered thirty, or eveu forty, in a flock. But since 

 that time the gamekeepers have nearly exterminated the species in that neighbour- 

 hood, and where formerly you could see scores you cannot see one now. — B. Gibson ; 

 Wakefield, December 27, 1861. 



Occurrence of the Crossbill near Eye. — On the 18th of October last my brother shot 

 a very fine male example of the crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) : it was feeding in a fir 

 plantation close to our house, eating either the seeds of the fir or insects contained in 

 the cones; as he skinned it before I had an opportunity of examining it, I am unable 

 to say on which. According to Macgillivray, they sometimes visit this country in 

 large flocks.— R. Tyrer,jun.; Eye, Suffolk, November 8, 1861. 



Food of the Wren. — In a paper on the habits and food of the wren by Mr. Brock- 

 holes, published in the ' Transactions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of 

 Liverpool,' this gentleman states that snails constitute a large portion of the food of 

 this little bird during the winter, — that it often carries them to a particular spot, 

 where it detaches the animal by breaking the shell, or by other means, and then eats 

 it; and that the broken shells are often noticed lying in considerable numbers 

 together, by persons who are ignorant of the cause of their destruction. I cannot 

 conceive how Mr. Brockholes can have fallen into this error: a moments considera- 

 tion must convince any one that a wren could not by any possibility break the shell of 

 a snail, and if it could detach the animal in any other way it could not swallow it. 

 I thought every one who has paid the least attention to birds was aware that it is the 

 song thrush which feeds upon snails, and this bird almost always carries them to a 

 particular stone to break the shells. The wren feeds entirely upon small insects and 

 worms, and in winter frequents ditches and brooks for the sake of the small red worms 

 so abundant in the mud: the stomach of one killed a day or two since conlaiued 

 nothing whatever but these worms. Mr. Brockholes also stales that wrens roost in 

 such numbers in a single hole in a haystack that a dozen may be taken out at once in 

 the hand : if this is the case at Liverpool wrens must be far more numerous there than 

 they are at Epping. — Henry Doubleday ; Epping, January 4, 1862. 



Variety of Partridges. — It may be interesting to some of the numerous readers of 

 VOL. XX. I 



