Birds. 



6329 



cannot see whether the four nestlings are nearly fledged or not.— C. Fox ; Middleton 

 Lodge, near Richmond, Yorkshire, December 4, 1858. 



Occurrence of the Tree Sparrow at Penzance. — I last evening examined, in the 

 flesh, a good specimen of this species, which had been obtained very near this place in 

 a meadow with hedgerows, by Mr. Vingoe. I have not hitherto known any example 

 to have occurred in this locality, nor do I know of any record of its having been found 

 in Cornwall before, except in one instance, in the neighbourhood of Falmouth, where 

 I remember observing the specimen preserved in the Museum. — Edward Hearle Rodd ; 

 Penzance, December 16, 1858. 



Occurrence of the Parrot Crossbill (Loxia pilyopsittacus) near Brighton. — I saw 

 this bird, " in the meat," at Mr. Swaysland's shop ; it had been caught the day before 

 (Monday, Novembers, 1858), at Bognor, by a bird-catcher, in clap-nets : the bird 

 bit his fingers so much that he dared not place it among the newly-caught goldfinches, 

 and was therefore obliged to kill it. It had a very large beak, with the cross not 

 nearly so much developed as in Loxia curvirostra; there was a little yellow on the 

 head. It was curious to find such a bird, apparently a long way from any of its 

 appropriate food. 



Beautiful Variety of the Partridge. — I yesterday saw a very strange and beautifully 

 pied variety of the common partridge, which was shot by a gentleman's gamekeeper, 

 near this city. The bird in question is nearly of a pure while; the throat is slightly- 

 mottled with a few ash-coloured feathers; the breast and belly are pure white, a slight 

 bar of light ash-coloured feathers marking the place of the ordinary horse-shoe on the 

 breast; the extreme primary feather of each wing is mottled with white and rufous ; 

 the second primary has a slight buff tinge along its shaft; the other primaries and the 

 secondaries are white; scapulars white, slightly barred with rufous; back white, barred 

 with a rich rufous; upper tail-coverts white; tail silvery brown, mottled with white 

 and rufous. The bird is as fat as any partridge I ever saw, and altogether is a singular 

 variety. Pied varieties of the partridge are not very common : I have seen silver birds, 

 and I have heard of one being shot which was of a uniform buff colour. The bird- 

 stuffer who is preparing the bird I have been describing has had many years' ex- 

 perience, during which time he has set up several varieties of the partridge, but he 

 assures me he never saw one so strangely pied as this bird. — Murray A. Mathews; 

 Merton College, Oxford, November 10, 1858. 



Occurrence of Baillon's Crake, and its Nesting in England. — Several instances of 

 the occurrence of this bird, during the present year, have come under my notice. It 

 will no doubt be interesting to the readers of the 'Zoologist' to hear of authentic cases 

 of its nesting in England. I have a fine male bird, which was shot in our fens in 

 July ; this appeared, from its internal state, to have been breeding, and led me to 

 suspect that this species had nested in this district: this I found had been abundantly 

 proved by the detection of a nest, on the 6lh of June, containing six eggs, which were 

 shown tome by Mr. Baker, naturalist, of this town. Some birds were shot also near 

 the same locality about the same time : these, however, were unfit for preservation, 

 and the eggs were much, but not irremediably, broken ; one has been kindly g^ven to 

 me, and, though a little fractured, I value it highly, as one of the first British examples 

 yet taken. A second nest was discovered in the first week of August, and, in this 

 instance, the hen bird was taken on the nest : the eggs seven in number, had been sat 

 upon for some time, and had lost the usual fresh bloom, yet still are very characteristic 

 specimens : these were brought to me by Mr. W. Farren, of this town, in whose 

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