Notes — Ornithology and Mammalia . 



( )7 



J have also heard from the officer in charge of the Donna 

 Nook Coastguard Station, to whom I wrote asking for informa- 

 tion as to the quantity and sizes of the stones found there, and 

 whether they are rough or smooth, and I give his reply : — 

 'H.M. Coast Guard, Donnanook, 



' 16th December 1899. 



' Dear Sir, 



* With reference to your letter (re stones) I most 

 respectfully beg to inform you that I have been at Donna- 

 nook and other stations on the Lincolnshire coast for the 

 last twenty years, but have never seen any Shingle beach 

 at Donnanook. You may go as far south as Sutton-on- 

 Sea before you can come to any stones, and then they 

 are very small, not in anyway like those found on the 

 Yorkshire coast. 



' Yours faithfully, 



(Signed) 'Jas. McCarthy.' 



20th December i8gg. 



NOTES— ORNITHOLOGY. 



Unrecorded" Occurrence of the Pratincole in Lincolnshire.— 



A specimen of this bird {Glareola firatincola) , sex unknown, was shot by 

 the late Mr. Clark, of Brumby, N. Lines., Nat. Hist. Div. 2, on Brumby 

 Common, which borders on the river Trent, early in this century. Until 

 lately the stuffed skin was in the possession of his heirs at Glentworth Hall, 

 where I inspected it a few years ago. — Max Peacock, Ivy House, Bottes- 

 ford, Doncaster, 6th February 1900. 



The Little Owl at Coleby, near Lincoln. —A specimen of this bird 

 {Athene noctua), so rarely met with in England, was shot in Coleby Wood, 

 a village on the cliff range 6h miles south of Lincoln, on the 13th November 

 last (1899). 



Seebohm, and other authorities, speak of it as being' sometimes brought 

 into this country as a pet for aviaries, on account of its amusing gestures, 

 and no doubt occasionally these owls get at liberty, or are seLfree. There 

 is, however, no appearance ot captivity in this particular biro, its plumage 

 being 1 untouched and perfect. It has been secured forthe Lincoln Museum. 

 F. M. Burton, Hig-hfiekl, Gainsborough^ 19th March 1900. 



NOTE MAMMAL/A. 



Badger near Horncastle. A few days ago a keeper al Wesl Ashby, 

 near Horncastle, captured a Badger (Meles nicies). As soon as I heard of 

 it 1 wrote, pleading for the Badger's life, but it was already 'dead and 

 buried.' It seems a pity thai the last representative of the Bear family in our 

 country should be thus mercilessly Slaughtered. If we are to believe 

 naturalists, the Badger is mainly a vegetarian, and if he does occasionally 

 indulge in flesh and blood, it is chiefly in helping our Owls to keep down the 

 Field Alice, so destructive to our crops. The keeper in question defended 

 himself by declaring that there were four or five more in the coverts. If he 

 has his own way they will not he there long. J. CONW w WALTER, Langton 

 Rectory, Horncastle, 10th March iqoo. 



1900 April 1; 



