NOTES ORNITHOLOCxY. 45 



The following short table will at once show the finds that have 

 been made in the district, with the date of the extinction of the 

 various species : — 



The Urns, gigantic wild ox, about the dawn 



of the historic period. a.d. 

 Brown Bear ... circa 500 — 1000 



Reindeer ... ... 1200 



Beaver ... ... ,, iioo — 1200 



Wolf „ 1680 



Wild Boar 1620 (Dawkins). 



The Cave Bear and the Grizzly becancie extinct in prehistoric 

 times, and the so-called Irish Elk immediately afterwards. The dates 

 of the extinction of the minor animals are unimportant and compara- 

 tively recent. 



NOTES— ORNITHOLOGY. 



Bittern in Lincolnshire.— On 7th January I had the opportunity of 

 examining a Jjittern [Botaiirus siellaris) which had been that day brought up from 

 the marsh by a man named Vickers, by whom it was shot the day before at West 

 Saltfleetby, a village near the coast, about eight miles from Louth. — H. Wallis 

 Kew, Louth, 8th January, 1887. 



Gannet occurring inland near Masham.— On the 2nd inst. 



a male Gannet {Snia bassana) in remarkably fine immature plumage was captured 

 by one of the Swinton watchers, at Wathermarshe, immediately outside the park. 

 It was first seen on the ground, and being unable to rise was chased into a building 

 and caught. It was in good condition, apparently uninjured ; the digestive organs 

 empty. Doubtless it had lost its way in the recent thick weather, and wandered 

 from the sea, thirty miles distant from here. It is the first recorded occurrence of 

 the Gannet in this neighbourhood. Hooded Crows arrived 4th inst. Redwing 

 arrived 9th inst. — Tom Carter, Burton House, Masham, October 12th, 1886. 



Gannet inland near Harrogate.— A fine immature specimen of the 



(iannet {Siila bassana) was picked up by a farmer in a field at Crimple (just under 

 the viaduct), near Harrogate., during the month of October 1886. The man, in 

 going through the field, observed a speckled bird lying on the grass. He thought 

 it was a dead hen, and was going to pass it by, but noticing its long wings and 

 large beak, he examined it more closely, and found a strange bird, which he 

 thought would look well stuffed, and so by a lucky chance it was preserved. The 

 bird was quite warm when picked up. and had evidently been shot at, as, when 

 .skinned, a few shots were found in the body. The wings from tip to tip measured 

 6 ft., and the bird is nicely preserved. It is, I think, the first instance of its 

 occurrence in this district. — RiLEV Fortune, Alston House, Harrogate, Decem- 

 ber 1 8th, 1886. 



Greenshank and Storm Petrel near Wakefield.— I wish to 



record the occurrence, within six miles of Wakefield, of the Greenshank {Totaiuis 

 canescens), immature, on August 19th ; also the Storm Petrel [Frocellaria pelagica), 

 mature male, October 5th, both brought me for preservation. The gentleman who 

 shot the Petrel had his attention drawn to it by a flock of about 60 Lapwings 

 giving chase in a noisy and disturbed manner. I have also received from North 

 Yorkshire a fine hen Pheasant [rhasianiis colchiais) assuming the plumage of the 

 male. It would be interesting to know if such birds ever lay eggs and rear young 

 'as ordinary ones. — Geo. Parkin, Wakefield, December 22nd,' 1886. 



Feb. 1887. 



