8092 



Birds. 



intended victim, I rose to catch him, trembling as though I had the ague. Ah i 

 that did it. All quiet, and I within a yard of the hole. A flutter and out he goes. 

 It is no use. I must try again. So I waited, watched, and cursed my own folly in 

 being so awkward ; but to no purpose : he returned no more. There being several 

 men working about the wood, I was afraid to leave it and try again on the morrow; 

 so I set to work and cut the hole larger, which I very soon accomplished, and had the 

 pleasure of bringing out four beautiful white eggs. Two of them are quite clear, and 

 appear to be addled ; the others appeared to have been sat upon for about a week. 

 They were laid upon a few chips and dust, the same as the rest of the woodpeckers. 

 The hole went into the tree for about five or six inches, and thence down to about a 

 foot or not quite so much. The eggs are shaped more like the spotted woodpecker's 

 than those of the green woodpecker, but come off to a finer point than either ; in fact 

 they are almost as large and about the same sh;ipe as snipe's eggs, and are of course 

 pure white. I cannot give the exact measurements just now, but will do so shortly. I 

 have not yet blown them, as I wish to show them to Mr. Wise first (I expect him here 

 in a day or two), so as to remove, if possible, all doubts as to their authenticity. This, 

 I believe, is the first known instance of the black woodpecker breeding in England. — 

 W, Farren ; Brockenhurst, Hants, June 13, 1862. 



Occurrence of Sclavonian and Eared Grebes in Norfolk in full Summer Plumage. — 

 On the 16th of April three beautiful specimens of the Sclavonian grebe (Podiceps cor- 

 nutus) were killed at the same time on one of our smaller broads. I had fortunately 

 the opportunity of examining them all in the flesh, and found them, by dissection, to 

 be an old male, and a young male and female about the same age. The first, a mag- 

 nificent bird, with a rich crest of black and orange, resembles exactly the bird figured 

 by Yarrell, from a specimen formerly in his collection, also killed on one of our Nor- 

 folk broads, in May, 1826. The colour of the two younger birds are less vivid, and 

 the crests much smaller, with a few white feathers still visible on the chin and throat, 

 being apparently birds of the previous season. In the old male, evidently in full 

 breeding vigour, the testes were large and pure white, the same parts in the 

 immature male being smaller and dark iu colour. The female contained a large 

 cluster of eggs, but none larger than good sized pins' heads. On examining the 

 contents of their stomachs, I found them in each instance crammed with a compact 

 green mass, which, on close inspection, proved to be nothing but feathers, mixed with 

 and stained by the green Conferva from the surface of the water, the only atom of 

 real food discoverable being a small brown beetle in the stomach of the female. The 

 fact of the grebes thus swallowing their own feathers has been alluded to by Yarrell, 

 Macgillivray, Fleming, and other naturalists; but no satisfactory opinion has, I 

 believe, been arrived at, either as to the cause of their doing so, or the means of dis- 

 posing of such indigestible materials. As I before observed, with the exception of one 

 minute beetle, I found nothing whatever capable of sustaining life, although the 

 stomachs were in each case greatly distended, the contents being closely matted 

 together and at least half-an-inch in diameter. The stomach of the old male was 

 extremely muscular, indeed a true gizzard, the inner surface rough like a file, 

 and the coats extremely thick. The same parts in the younger birds were also, though 

 in a less degree, indicative of strong digestive powers. Two pairs of the eared grebe, 

 also in full summer plumage, were killed on Horsey Mere, about the 9th of May. 

 One of the females is said to have contained a quantity of eggs. Mr. F. Harmer, of 

 Great Yarmouth, who had heard the particulars from a friend who was present when 



