276 



MISCELI-ANEOUS NOTES. 



NOTES— ORNITHOLOG Y. 



Fieldfares near Halifax in July. — Walking in the fields on Sunday morning 

 the 1st of July, I heard the well-remembered ' chack-chack ' of the Fieldfare [Tzirdus 

 pilaris), and, turning round, saw a flock of eight or nine flying in a north-westerly 

 direction. They settled in a field a few hundred yards further on. — C. C. Hanson, 

 Greetland, near Halifax, July 17th, 1888. 



Osprey near Alford. — On the 3rd of May, 1888, an Osprey {I^andion hahaeiJis) 

 was shot at Chapel Marsh, in the parish of Alumby Chapel, near Alford, by a son 

 of Mr. J. N. Robinson, of Anderby. I have seen the bird, which is one of last 

 year's brood apparently. When shot its stomach was found full of fish. — 

 Jas. Eardley Mason, Alford, 8th August, 1888. 



Food of Crossbills. — The stomachs of two of these birds, obtained on the 

 Yorkshire coast near Kilnsea, on the 14th and 15th of July, were crammed with 

 the nymph of Philcvnus sptima}-i?{s , the ' cuckoo-spit ' insect, no doubt picked 

 from the blades of sea-grasses growing on the sand-dunes. — John Cordeaux, 

 Great Cotes, Ulceby, August 9th, 1888. 



Crossbill at the Fame Islands. — You ask for occurrences of the Crossbill 

 [Loxia curvirostra) in the North of England. About July 17th a male was 

 picked up dead on the Farne Islands and shown to Mr. H. "G. Barclay, of 

 Norwich, who was on the islands at the time. Whether it was a solitary example, 

 or whether any others were seen at the time on the mainland, I know not, but 

 Mr. Barclay did not see any others. — J. H. GuRNEY, Jun,, Keswick Hall, 

 Norwich, 14th August, 1888. 



NOTE— GEOLOGY. 



Calverley Wood Quarries, Leeds. — The Council of the Leeds Geological 

 Association, upon the invitation of Mr. J. Cameron Rowan, paid a visit to the 

 above-named quarries, to inspect a fine section of the Rough Rock, the uppermost 

 bed of the Millstone Grit series. The day was most unfavourable for any geological 

 work, an incessant rain falling throughout, but still the observations were most 

 perseveringly carried through. Upon arrival at Apperley Bridge Station, the 

 party made the best of their way along the pleasant road intersecting Calverley 

 Wood, until they were met by Messrs. Gray and Rowan, and conducted to the 

 quarries. The first quarry visited did not present any striking features beyond the 

 manner in which the rock had been disturbed by one of the numerous smaller 

 faults in this neighbourhood. The second quarry was more interesting and prac- 

 tical, and certainly was a fine section. Here could be seen in descending order 

 the well-known rough rock, then a ragstone, followed by a good flagstone. A good 

 opportunity was in this quarry offered of observing the cause of the disturbance 

 which had so dislocated the superincumbent strata. The beds, which were once 

 deposited horizontally, or at all events with a slight dip in one direction, were 

 noted as dipping in opposite directions over a boss of solid sandstone. This has, 

 no doubt, been produced by tremendous lateral pressure operating in the most 

 gradual manner ; still this extremely slow but incalculably powerful force has rifted 

 and cracked the solid sandstone above. Some remarkable instances of this force 

 were observed in a quantity of flags which had been obtained from this quarry, 

 which were not perfectly flat, but slightly concave. In one part of this quarry was 

 noted a good example of a fault, with a wedge-shaped mass of sandstone between. 

 The next quarry visited showed also a good section of the rough rock, and also 

 afforded an opportunity of studying the composition of this well-known and most 

 valuable stone. Just where it had been bared it was of a conglomeritic character, 

 being full of large pebbles of whitish quartz. These were mixed with rapidly 

 decomposing felspar. This showed undoubtedly the origin of this rock, its 

 materials being furnished from the wear and tear of pre-existing rocks, such as 

 granite. — S. A. Adamson, Leeds, July 28th, 1888. 



Naturalist, 



