Birds. 



6447 



moon. A friend of mine returned home late that night to his country residence, and 

 a sudden violent gust of wind and rain overtook him on his way home. On his 

 approaching a woody valley, where his residence lies, after the shower had passed 

 away, between one and two o'clock in the morning, redbreasts and thrushes were in full 

 song, principally redbreasts. It may be accounted for thus : the mornings in January 

 had been very dark and sluggish ; the gust of wind had probably awakened the birds, 

 and, from the before-mentioned strong moonlight, they most likely thought it was day- 

 break. — Id. 



Occurrence of the Black Swan on the South Coast— Mr. Thomas Clark, in the 

 'Zoologist' (Zool. 6379), asks, respecting the black swans at North Moor, Bridgewater, 

 Is it probable that they escaped from some preserve? The fact of the tameness men- 

 tioned appears to indicate a preserve, but in the ' Times,' of November 1st, 1855, the 

 following may be read, which would establish the black swan as a British bird, if 

 true : — " During the past week a bird of unusual size was observed flying towards 

 Exmouth, on the Devonshire coast, from the sea. On arriving near land it wheeled 

 round, and after flying back some distance, was seen through a glass to descend into 

 the sea, near Straight Point. Two men immediately put off, and were fortunate 

 enough to capture it. On examination, it turned out to be a black swan ; it was poor 

 in flesh, and evidently exhausted by long flight, but showed by its plumage and other 

 indications that it had never been in captivity. It is supposed that by a long 

 succession of storms it has been driven from the Pacific, its only known habitation." 

 I remarked there had been very severe gales for some time past and made a note of 

 it at the time. — George Dawson Rowley; 5, Peel Terrace, Brighton, February 

 12, 1859. 



Occurrence of the Longtailed Duck on the Norfolk Coast. — In my last notice of 

 winter arrivals on our coast I mentioned, as a not uncommon event, at this season, the 

 capture of an immature specimen of Harelda glacialis, off Blakeney, the young birds 

 of this species taking a far wider range, even in mild winter, than adults. I have now, 

 however, to record the very unusual fact of five adult specimens of this truly Arctic 

 duck having been recently killed on the sea-shore, at Winterton, near Yarmouth. The 

 first of these birds, a male, in full winter-plumage, was shot on the 10th of January ; 

 the other two pairs, male and female, respectively between the 15 th and 17th, 

 and being sent up to Norwich for preservation I had an early opportunity of 

 examining them. The females exhibited the usual sombre tints of the winter- 

 plumage, and the males that rich contrast of colouring which makes them so 

 conspicuous in collections. The one first killed was, if anything, the darkest on the 

 breast, with scapulars more white than gray, but three finer specimens I never had the 

 chance of handling. To what cause, accidental or otherwise, we are indebted 

 for the appearance of these hardy visitors during this mildest of winters, is a matter of 

 no little speculation. A season so unprofitable to the wild-fowl shooter I never 

 remember, whilst the absence from our shores of themost common species would 

 betoken no great amount of cold as yet in more northern regions. The long tailed 

 ducks, however, according to Yarrell, are amongst the last to proceed southward, even 

 in the most severe weather, " remaining as long as any surface of water continues un- 

 frozen," and certainly, during the sharpest winters we have had within the last 

 ten years, I have looked in vain for an adult Harelda in this country, amongst many 

 rarities. — H. Stevenson ; Norwich, February, 1859. 



Occurrence of the Fulmar Petrel in Barnstaple. — On the afternoon of Wednesday, 



