Birds. 



7931 



only other British specimen I can hear of is the one mentioned by Mr. Morris, in his 

 'British Birds,' as having been caught in a net near Shrewsbury, in October, 1841. 

 In volume 6th of the ' Zoologist ' (Zool. 1958), the Rev. C. A. Bury mentions seeing it 

 in the South of Spain, and in volume 15th (Zool. 5357), Lieutenant Irby records it as 

 being found iu the Crimea. I may, therefore, think myself fortunate in adding so 

 rare a bird to my collection of British songsters. I have this winter caught in my 

 garden here a fine male mountain finch (Fringilla montifringilla) aud a male cirl 

 bunting (Emberiza cirlus). I have also a male and female hawfinch (Coccothraustes 

 vulgaris). The female I had last spring, and in May she laid three eggs in the cage, 

 which was remarkable, as she had been in captivity since the preceding autumn. I 

 hope this year, by turning the pair into a small aviary, they may be induced to breed. 

 I have also three crossbills (Loxia curvirostra), which are very tame and amusing 

 birds. Both the hawfinch and crossbill generally visit this connty every year : I sus- 

 pect the former breeds in certain parts of the New Forest. — J. Pemberton BartleU ; 

 Exbury Parsonage, Hampshire, February 3, 1862. 



Note on the Shore Lark (Alauda alpestris) and Little Owl (Strix passerina) in Nor- 

 folk. — In the ' Zoologist' (Zool. 7845), I recorded the capture of three shore larks on 

 our coast between the 9th aud 12th of November last. Since then two more have been 

 killed at Sherringham, and these, like the previous specimens, proved on dissection to 

 be male birds. Of the two last, obtained on the 9th or 10th of January, one was 

 evidently older than the other, with a perfect black gorget and bright yellow tints on 

 the throat and neck, the horns well developed and the cheeks black. The forehead, 

 however, was mere white than yellow, with a very indistinct black band, mixed with 

 yellow on the upper part of the head; the points of the wings vinous. The younger 

 specimen had a smaller gorget, each black feather being tipped with yellow, the black 

 on the cheeks also blended in the same mauner. The horns slight, but quite distin- 

 guishable ; no perceptible band across the head ; forehead yellowish white, and several 

 reddish longitudinal spots on the breast, immediately below the gorget. It is worthy 

 of remark that on the 15th or 16th of November, only three days later than the last 

 specimen wks procured in this county during the same month, three shore larks out of 

 a flock of five were netted near Brighton, as recorded by Mr. G. D. Rowley in the last 

 number of the ' Ibis.' An adult male of the little owl was taken alive on board a 

 fishing smack during the first week in February. This bird was brought into Yar- 

 mouth for sale, and on the 7th inst. was sent up to Norwich to be stuffed. The plu- 

 mage was ragged and dirty and the stomach quite empty, occasioned most probably 

 by the bird having been placed in some box or cage, where it had refused all nourish- 

 ment in its fruitless efforts to escape. The last specimen of this rare little owl that 

 occurred in Norfolk was also taken alive, in 1846, by Mr. J. H. Gurney's gamekeeper 

 at Easton, near Norwich.— H. Stevenson; Norwich; February 19, 1862. 



Occurrence of the Crossbill in England.— This being anything but a rare visitor, 

 I conclude that the particular notice of it of late in the 'Zoologist' is to shovv how 

 widely and generally it is spread oper the country ; I have therefore to record that I 

 observed one a few weeks since in my garden, feeding in the sycamore trees, up the 

 branches and twigs of which it climbed in a somewhat parrot-like manner, the body 

 frequently reversed or suspended. It was allowed to depart unmolested.— Henry 

 Hadfield ; Ventnor, Isle of Wight, February 15, 1862. 



Gatherings of Magpies.— With regard to the flocking together of magpies, as 

 recorded by more than one correspondent in the 'Zoologist,' I may perhaps be 

 permitted to point out that this habit (though observed at a different season) is referred 



