FAUNA AND FLORA OF NORFOLK : BIRDS. 
737 
[(treat Black Woodpecker. 
With reference to the repeated reports of the appearances of 
this species in England, most of which may at once be dismissed 
as “ unproven,” it may be well to put on record a circumstance 
which has recently come to light. Mr. W. H. Tuck informed me 
that in the year 1897, seven or eight of these birds were brought 
from Sweden, where they had been taken from the nest by a friend 
of his, and after having been kept in an aviary near Brandon for 
some time were allowed to regain their liberty. This fact is given 
from his personal knowledge, but he was not allowed to mention 
the circumstance until a period of three years had expired, and it 
will doubtless account for the examples reported by the Rev. E. T. 
Daubeny as seen at Ixworth, Kuston Park, and Brandon in 1897, 
and possibly also for those said by Mr. Digby l’igott to have been 
seen in Sheringham Park in 1903. That this sedentary species 
should ever, of its own accord, desert its native forests and migrate 
hither is so exceedingly improbable, that ornithologists were fully 
justified in rejecting any but the fullest evidence of the occurrences, 
and such an introduction as that just mentioned ought to be 
regarded with reprehension even if conducted openly, much more 
so if secrecy were enjoined on the part of the few who were aware 
of the transaction. — T. S.] 
Roller. 
One was brought in the flesh to Mr. Roberts to be preserved, 
on the 2nd September, 1902, but the carrier who brought it 
declined to say where it was shot. Another is reported from 
Rushford, near Thetford, on 9th of September, 1902, and another 
at Gay ton on October 22nd, 1903. 
Allen’s Gallinule. 
A young bird taken on a fishing boat near Yarmouth, December 
31st, 1901, was probably a migrant. It appears that this African 
Waterhen also generally chooses the winter months in which to 
visit Southern Europe, and not spring or autumn, as might be 
expected. — J. H. G. 
Moorhen. 
Two fully-grown young Moorhens, in beautiful plumage and 
pure albinos, were killed on the 1st and 3rd of August, 1903, 
