6326 



Birds* 



been killed in Norfolk is a male in the Norwich Museum, taken at Cation in 1841 : in 

 the same collection is also an immature female, shot at Hinghain in the following 

 year. — H. Stevenson; Norwich, December 6, 1858. 



Notices of Ornithological Occurrences in Norfolk in October and November, 1858. — 

 A few mealy and lesser redpoles, siskins and twites appeared about the first week in 

 October, and left us again in a day or two on their way southward : the arrival of these 

 birds early in the season usually indicates the approach of sharp weather, and in this 

 instance was followed soon after by the intense frosts which we have lately experienced. 

 On the 22nd of October a fine roughlegged buzzard, in nearly adult plumage, was 

 shot at Seething: the specimens obtained in this county are principally young birds. 

 An immature female of the longlailed duck was shot, about the same time, at Blakeney. 

 About the 28th of October an unusually large number of woodcocks were met with in 

 all directions, after a strong gale: a single specimen was picked up dead, close to this 

 city, having flown, in the night, with such force against the wall of a house as literally 

 to smash the frontal bone: within the last fortnight upwards of eighty-three woodcocks 

 ■were shot, in one day, in some coverts belonging to Lord Hastings, in the vicinity of 

 the coast. On the 10th of November a young hen harrier, male, was shot at North- 

 repps, near Cromer: these birds appear at the present time to be almost exterminated 

 as residents in this county. On the 12th of November a storm-driven specimen of the 

 little auk was picked up dead at South Walsham : this is the only one I have heard 

 of this season. Whilst snipe-shooting (which birds were extremely plentiful on the 

 Broad and Marshes from the 12th to the 15th), on the 16ih, at Surlingham, I found, 

 towards the afternoon, large flocks of pied wagtails dispersed all over the Broad, many 

 of them clinging to the reed-stems, like the bearded tits, and smaller flights continually 

 passing high overhead or stopping to join their companions : this was at the commence- 

 ment of the severe frosts, and from the locality in which I found them, and their un- 

 usual numbers, I have no doubt that these were migratory arrivals, about to rest for 

 the night, on their way inland. On the 19th of November a gray shrike, an adult 

 male, was shot at Heighara, close to this city. On the 23rd of November a female 

 waxwing was shot at Beeston, near Cromer (the frost still intense): I have not been 

 able to ascertain if others were seen at the same time; but, during the last few years, 

 only one or two stray specimens of this interesting but irregular visitant have been 

 obtained: the last arrival of these birds in any quantity was in the winter of 1849-50, 

 when such immense numbers were met with along the entire line of our Eastern 

 counties. On the 26th of November another roughlegged buzzard, an adult female, 

 a somewhat older bird than the last, was shot at Burgh.— Id. ; December 7, 1858. 



Occurrence of the Bohemian Waxwing at Weymouth. — On the 10th of December 

 I had brought me a fine old male of the Bohemian waxwing {Bombycilla garrula) : it 

 has six tags on each wing : of course I secured it, having given five shillings for it : 

 it had been killed about half an hour before I purchased it, and was still warm. It 

 was first seen feeding on a haw bush (here the haws are called " pig-berries"). Gil- 

 lingham, the man who killed it, fired and missed; it then flew a long distance, but 

 returned and perched on the top of a high tree : the man told me he had very great 

 difficulty in getting within shot a second time. This is the third notice I have of its 

 occurrence in Dorsetshire: one was killed in January, 1850, at Abbotsbury, near Wey- 

 mouth, and Rolls, the bird-preserver here, tells me one passed through his hands about 

 ten years prior to that date. I fully expect there will be many notices from different 

 parts of the country ; I hope the correspondents of the 'Zoologist' will be particular 



