5958 



Birds. 



Alexandria in January, in latitude 31°, I imagine the flight of the swallow from 

 ils summer to its winter residence must be about 33° or 2300 miles, as it is 

 numerous in Norway up to latitude 67°. In Algeria I observed large flights of the 

 siskin, goldfinch, brown linnet, green linnet and wagtails, all of which no doubt must 

 have come to winter from the northward. The house sparrow seemed to be extremely 

 common. — R, Pigot; J. U.S. Club, Charles Street, December 26, 1857. 



The Great Gray Shrike (Lanius excubilor) in Cambridgeshire, — I have had the 

 good fortune to have sent me no less than three of these rare birds : the first was shot 

 at Haddenham in the winter of 18/)5-6; the second (male) near Ely, on the 2 1st of 

 November, 1856; the third (male) in the same locality as the last, on the 25th of 

 December, 1857, — William Farren,jun.; King^s Old Gateway, Cambridge, January 8, 

 1858. 



The Great Spotted Woodpecker (Picus major) at Welney Wash. — I have a splendid 

 specimen of this bird, which was shot on the 9th of November, 1857, in a rather strange 

 locality, viz. among some osiers on Welney Wash. — Id. 



Blackbirds nesting in December. — Last week a fresh blackbird's nest, with four 

 eggs, was found at Up Park, near here, the seat of Lady Fetherstonhaugh. — William 

 Henry Haicker ; Horndean, Hants, January 1, 1858. 



The Alpine Accentor (Accentor alpinus) near Lewes. — On the 26ih of December 

 last 1 obtained two specimens of the Alpine accentor, which were shot on the Downs 

 near here: one of them I have had preserved, the other unfortunately being too much 

 injured by the shot. Mr. Yarrell, in his work on ' British Birds,' gives but three 

 instances of this species being killed in England, but probably more may have 

 occurred since the publication of his work, it being not an uncommon bird on the 

 Continent. — John Porter, jun. ; 8, East Street, Lewes, 



Movements of Swifts and Migratory Birds. — I observed the swifts last summer 

 later by some days than usual, having seen a good many on the 16th, 17th and 18th 

 of August, no doubt in consequence of the fineness of the weather and the very high 

 temperature. Mr. Orlando Whistlecraft, in his Almanack for 1858, has also men- 

 tioned that the house swallows near him, in Sufl*olk, at the commencement of the 

 summer, forsook their usual habits and built in open places, like the martins; the 

 usual chimneys were not occupied by the house swallow : it is certainly extraordinary 

 by what instinct birds can foresee what sort of weather is to come. Mr. Whistlecraft 

 is a great observer of the changes of the atmosphere, and has kept a journal for thirty- 

 five years. I recommend his Almanack for 1858 to all those who are fond of studying 

 the weather. During the last mild weather I have heard of rooks repairing their 

 nests, as they do in the early part of the spring. — H. W, Newman; Cheltenham, 

 January 8, 1858. 



The Glossy Ibis and Yellowlegged Sandpiper killed in Yorkshire. — On the 18th of 

 November, 1857, a very fine male of the glossy ibis was taken at Misson, near Bawtry, 

 in Yorkshire, which came into the hands of Mr. Hugh Reid, the celebrated bird- 

 stuff'er, ai Doncaster, and is now in my collection. The only British specimen of the 

 yellowlegged sandpiper (Totanus fiavipes) figured in Yarrell's 'Supplement' was 

 taken at ihe same place, and was brought to Mr. Eeid; this specimen is in my 

 collection.— ^F. M. E, Milner ; Nunapplelon, Tadcaster, December 24, 1857. 



