Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 1 (1843).djvu/208

180 1785, according to Pilkington, our county historian, an osprey was also killed here. Since that period another has been shot (I believe in 1835), a noble and beautiful bird, which, in a good state of preservation, is in the possession of Mr. Robinson, the Shaw, Melbourne. It was captured whilst in pursuit of its favorite prey, fish, being doubtless attracted to the spot by the appearance of a considerable sheet of water. An accurate observer, to whom I am indebted for many new and valuable observations, assures me that in October, 1841, he saw a bird of this species near Weston Cliff, soaring at a considerable altitude above the Trent, and that it was beating over the surface of the stream in as regular a manner as a pointer his shooting grounds. When a fish caught his eye he hovered on quivering wing for a moment, and then dashed down with great velocity into the stream, throwing up wreaths of spray in all directions around him. When a fish was seized, he bore it away in his talons to some distant spot to devour, and again returned to the scene of prey as before. Probably the fish taken by him were bleak or dace, as they are most frequently seen sporting near the surface. In the same month of the same year, an individual was shot a mile lower down the river, beneath Donnington Cliff, by the most noble the Marquis of Hastings, which probably was the bird before alluded to. It is preserved in his lordship's collection at Donnington park.

{sc|I beg}} to send you a list of the rare birds which have made their appearance here within the last two years: they consist chiefly of what are generally termed stragglers, but several species are included which migrate, at irregular intervals, in considerable numbers.

Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus). Five or six specimens, varying very much in plumage, were taken in Norfolk, about the end of September, 1841; two of these were shot near Yarmouth: another specimen was shot near Lowestoft, last autumn.

Blue-throated Warbler (Motacilla Suecica). One of these birds was found dead on the beach, September 21st, 1841.