THE YOUNG 



NOTES, CAPTURES, &c. 



A. Alni at Derby. — As Mr. J. Nixon, a 

 friend of mine, was going to his garden, on 

 August nth, he was surprised to see a boy 

 with a full-grown larva of A. Alni in his 

 hand, that he had picked off the hedge 

 close to the town. He secured it for a few 

 pence to the great delight of the finder. It 

 has now safely turned to a fine pupa. — 

 G. PuLLEN, Free Library and Museum, 

 Derby. 



V. Cardui. — We did not see a single 

 specimen of V. cardui last summer, though 

 the two previous years they had been very 

 abundant in this neighbourhood. Can any 

 of the readers of the Young Naturalist tell 

 me whether they have been taken in other 

 localities, or whether their non-appearance 

 has been general this year. — R. Prescott 

 Decie, Bockleton Court, Tenbury. 



Rare Birds at Harwich. — On October i 

 14th, I shot a Green Sandpiper, it is very 

 seldom we see these here after the middle 

 of September. On the 17th, a fine specimen 

 j of Richardson's Skua was shot, it is in 

 t mature plumage, and of the white-breasted 

 variety ; three others were seen. On the 

 I 27th, a male Great Crested Grebe was shot, 

 it was partially in summer plumage, still 

 retaining a good portion of its crest. — 

 F. Kerry, Harwich. 



House Martins in November. — On 

 Saturday last, igth November, I saw a pair 

 of House Martins hawking for flies, opposite 

 to my office window. I noticed them just 

 about nine o'clock, and called the atten- 



I tion of others to them. They disappeared 

 before noon.— Alfred Woods, West Hart- 



I lepool. 



I Captures at Birmingham. — On Nov. 

 4th I caught 3 Brumata and i De/oliaria on 

 lamps, although it w^as raining. On Nov. 

 nth, I canght 2 H. Fennaria, 6 Brumata, 



.1 Defoliaria and i Dilutata on lamps. Bru- 



NATURALIST. 27 



mata are very abundant everywhere here. — 

 Geo. F. Wheeldon, Birmingham. 



Captures, &c., in November. — On the 

 loth November I bred a male P. populi, from 

 pupae found under loose bark on Wych Elm, 

 at Richmond, Yorkshire. They were seven 

 or eight feet from the ground. On the 12th, 

 I took D. Ccerulcocephala, on a tree trunk at 

 Greatham, and the same day I bred the 

 only P. gamma I have reared this season. — 

 Alfred Woods, West Hartlepool. 



BRITISH BIRDS, THEIR 

 NESTS AND EGGS. 



By S. L. Mosley. 



Genus IX., Circus. 



Circus. — The Greek name of some kind 

 of hawk. 



The members of this genus may be dis- 

 tinguished from all the rest of the Fal- 

 coNiDiE by their more elongated form, the 

 long slender tarsi, and the pointed wings, 

 which reach, when closed, almost or quite 

 to the end of the tail, and in this respect 

 differing much from the last genus. Their 

 close proximi'ty to the Owls is manifest by 

 the soft loose state of their feathers, by their 

 having a frill of short stiff feathers round 

 the cheeks, which can be raised or depressed 

 at pleasure, and by their laying white eggs. 

 Three species are native of this country. 



13. MARSH HARRIER. 

 Circus /Eruginosus (Linn.) 



Harpye ] 

 Busard de Maris J (France.) 

 Fisch-geyer, &c. (Germany.) 

 Bod y giverni (Anct. Brit.) 



.^Eruginosus. — 



Size. — Male, length ift. Sin. or gin. ; 

 expanse, a little over 4ft. Female, ift. loin, 

 or 2ft. ; expanse 4ft. 5in. or 6in, 



