Birds. 



8281 



Barn Owl Preying upon Fish ? — For several nights past T have observed a barn 

 owl about the harbour, but this evening, during a dead calm, and while the moon was 

 shining very brightly, the bird appeared skimming rapidly within a short distance of 

 the water. Suddenly it dropped towards the surface, and then instantly vising con- 

 tinued its flight towards the Isle of Sheppey. Some minutes afterwards it reappeared, 

 repeated the same act, and again and again went throught almost precisely similar 

 manoeuvres, until I had witnessed the occurrence perhaps eight or ten times. It is 

 remarkable that the bird was never seen returning from the Isle of Sheppey ; it invari- 

 ably came from the direction of the opposite shore, so that the moon cast the shadow 

 behind instead of before, and thus the fish could receive no notice of the approach of 

 the enemy until it was close upon them. I was at too great a distance to see whether 

 the birds' feet actually touched the water, but there can be little doubt not only that 

 they did so, but that a fish was occasionally captured, for sometimes the bird after 

 stopping rose hurriedly, and, describing a wide circle in its flight, returned near the 

 same spot, and then made an apparently more successful pounce. Once it flew across 

 without making any stop, but in this instance it returned sooner than usual. Several 

 men belonging to this ship also witnessed the above, and one of them, a native of Kent, 

 told me that when he was a boy, he used very often to find fish bones in a barn owl's 

 nest, but although his assertion may be open to doubt, the accounts given by various 

 authors have long since established the fact that owls do occasionally prey upon fish. 

 I myself have found the remains of fish in the stomach of the tawny owl. — Henry L. 

 Saxby; H. M.S. " Devonshire" Sheerness, October 9, 1862. 



Notes upon the Migration and Song of the Skylark. — During the greater part of 

 the day skylarks have been flying over in a south-easterly direction, in the teeth of a 

 stiff breeze. They passed with a strong and steady flight, sometimes singly, but more 

 frequently in small parties of perhaps half-a-dozen or more, keeping rather high, and 

 occasionally uttering a short chirping note. I am at a loss to account for their move- 

 ments, seeing that telegrams from the north still report the weather mild and season- 

 able. In Shetland this species is partially migratory ; it is exceedingly abundant in 

 summer, but no sooner does the cold weather set in than the numbers begin rapidly to 

 diminish, and the few which remain collect into small flocks, frequenting stubble fields, 

 and in very severe seasons farm yards. Between the middle of September and the 

 first fortnight in November I have several times heard one in full song, and that, too, 

 in damp, misty weather. During the summer they sing not only from sunrise to sun- 

 set, but even throughout the whole of the long cloudless night, so that the song may 

 be heard almost incessantly for days and nights together. — Id.; October 15, 1862. 



Thrush Singing in October. — Is it not unusual for the song thrush {Tardus musicus) 

 to be heard singing during this month ? I have twice this day heard one, and suppose 

 that this uncommon occurrence may be attributed to the warm, showery weather of 

 this day. — Hugh Hornby ; Preston Rectory, Wellington, Shropshire, October 11, 1862. 

 [My own experience is that the thrush is usually silent in October — E. Newnan~\. 



Occurrence of the Bluethroated Warbler at Brighton. — On the 1st of October a 

 labouring boy brought me a specimen of the bluethroated warbler {Sylvia suecica). 

 It proved to be a male of the red spotted variety, having the spot on the fore neck of 

 a dark chestnut colour, which I believe is different from others that have been obtained 

 in this country. The boy was walking amongst some thick furze on the Downs when 

 he observed the bird, which he supposed to be a redstart, flying very swiftly from bush 

 to bush, not uttering any note. It perched on the tops of the furze, and spread its tail 



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