182 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



been recorded, and M'G-illivray states that the northern 

 limits of its range in Britain appear to be the counties 

 of Durham and Cumberland. It is generally distributed 

 over the Continent. Unfortunately this specimen was too 

 long of being brought to the bird-stuffer, and could not be 

 preserved. 



4. Pernis apivorus — the Honey Buzzard, one of our rarer 

 summer visitors, was killed by a gamekeeper at Biel, East 

 Lothian, in the month of July, as I am informed by Mr 

 John Dickson, gunmaker, Princes Street, who preserved the 

 bird. Its stomach was crammed full with wasps and their 

 larvse, some of which I examined ; more than could be held 

 in the hand being removed. The bird had been shot very 

 soon after a hearty meal. 



5. Bombycilla garrula — the Bohemian Waxwing. This 

 beautiful bird is an occasional winter visitor. Two spe- 

 cimens, a male and a female, were shot at Sunlaws, near 

 Kelso, about the 13th of November last. 



6. Botaurus stellaris — the Common Bittern, now one of 

 our rare birds. The specimen, exhibited by the kindness of 

 Mr James H. Sanderson, was shot near Mousewald, Dum- 

 friesshire, in the beginning of the month of January. 



7. Botaurus lentiginosus — the American Bittern. Mr K. 

 I. Shearer, Ulbster House, informs me that a specimen of 

 this very rare bird was shot at Latheronwheel, Caithness, 

 by F. S. Bently-Innes of Thrtimster, Esq., in the autumn of 

 1862. It is easily distinguished from the Common Bittern 

 by its more freckled appearance ; indeed it has been named 

 by Montagu the Freckled Bittern, the black dash or stripe 

 on the neck is larger and more distinct than in the Common 

 Bittern, and begins a little farther back from the angle of 

 the mouth. The bird is also less in size than the Common 

 Bittern, which, it may be remarked, seems never to have 

 been observed in the county of Caithness. The American 

 Bittern is only a rare straggler to Britain. Several instances 

 have been recorded of its appearance in England. The only 

 other instance known to me of its occurrence in Scotland, 

 was one killed at Jardine Hall, Dumfriesshire, in October 

 1844, and described by Sir William Jardine. 



