Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 4 (1846).djvu/388

1554 near enough, it would suddenly spring from the stone, uttering its loudest notes, and leaving me to wonder how I could possibly have overlooked it. The eddying of the breeze round rocks, banks, or bushes, or the frequent turning of the bird's head while calling or singing, may have the effect of deceiving us as to the distance or the where- abouts of the bird. I have, while listening to the corncrake, observed the call to sink and swell each two or three calls, sometimes having the appearance of being at a con- siderable distance, the next moment close at hand. I have been much deceived occa- sionally, in point of distance, in the way Mr. Atkinson was with the moorhen ; once I expected to find a quail about forty yards over the hedge, but had to go over several fields, when at length I got within fifteen or sixteen yards : here I listened some time, having my head close to the ground to keep out of sight ; the call now appeared very loud, and had a ringing tone with it as if coming out of some large empty vessel : in the progress of my pursuit, I still thought it only a short distance before me, and should certainly have given it up, had I not been most anxious to ascertain by putting the bird up, that it was really the quail which made the noise : I did so at last and was satisfied. — James Cooper ; Preston, October, 1846.

Occurrence of Tringa Schinzii near Penzance. — On Tuesday last, an adult male and female of this rare species of Tringa were killed at Hayle Estuary, about seven miles from this place, on the north coast, by Mr. W. H. Vingoe. The male had nearly completed its autumnal moult, but the female's winter plumage was not so far ad- vanced. The general appearance of both birds resembles the dunlin, under the same circumstances. The special characters of this species, in reference to T. variabilis, namely, its smaller size, shorter beak, and the white upper tail-coverts correspond with the descriptions given by Messrs. Gould, Yarrell, and Temminck. There did not ap- pear the slightest difference in size and dimensions on my comparing the specimens now under notice with Gould's figures, and scarcely any difference in colour. The length of my examples, and of course, those of Gould, do not accord with Yarrell's statement in these particulars of the bird, from which his drawing was taken. The smallest of my birds (the male) measured exactly 7| inches in length, and the female about Jth of an inch more, whereas the length given by Mr. Yarrell of his example, is 6i inches, a remarkable difference in so small a bird. I observe also in both of my specimens, that the wings exceed the tail by as much as they are represented in Mr. Yarrell's figure to be shorter. Both individuals, now under notice, are fully adult birds. On dissection, the several distinctions in both were at once plainly discernible. The birds were extremely fat and plump ; and one was in company with several dun- lins and ringed plovers ; the other was shot aloof from the fiock ; their note is repre- sented to me as shorter and sharper than that of T. variabilis. — Edward Hearle Rodd; Penzance, October 19th, 1846.

Note on the occurrence of the Black Swan in Britain. — I was reminded by your note on the Black Swan (Zool. 1501) of some passages I copied from Mr. Colqu- houn's 'The Moor and the Loch,' p. 41, note. "Wild geese, bernacle, brent geese, &c. seldom pitch upon the Highland Lochs, the former only for a short time to rest. Last winter (1841) some flocks of wild geese, the common gray lag, appeared on Loch Lomond during the first storm, *****. It is a curious fact that there were fewer hoopers last winter (1841) than in many of far less severity. During the severe win- ter of 1837-38 not one wild goose of any description was seen although there were numbers of the common wild swan and a few of the black species, one of which was shot." — John Wolley ; Beeston, near Nottingham, Oct. 3rd, 1846.