Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/209

Rh half. A specimen in the same state of plumage, obtained here some years since by the late Mr. D.W. Mitchell, measured fifteen inches and a half from the carpal joint to the end of the wing. Some of your readers might very properly remark that from my description this specimen might as well be a small Glaucous as a large Iceland Gull, but I think the length of the quill-feathers beyond the tail shows its character against the Glaucous Gull. It will, however, be necessary to be cautious in dealing with this point—viz., the length of the quill-feathers of this bird, as mentioned by authors. The quill-feathers of the Glaucous Gull are spoken of by most of our authors as scarcely equalling the tail-feathers in length: this, however, is a mistake, for in my specimen, and in one in Mr. Vingoe's possession, the feathers exceed the tail, slightly certainly, but by an inch at least. In Mr. Gould's figure of the Glaucous Gull, in his 'Birds of Great Britain,' I see he makes the length of the quill-feathers exceed the tail, in accordance with the two specimens I have mentioned.— (Penzance).

—During the month of January last one or two Kingfishers were picked up dead in the water, close to the Vicarage, apparently from starvation, the flood rendering it impossible for them to find their usual sustenance. I may add that these birds have been unusually plentiful in the neighbourhood this winter, and very tame.— (Britford Vicarage, Salisbury).

—On the 31st January last I was out shooting in the String of Shapinsha, and came across a solitary specimen of the King Duck (Somateria spectabilis); which I bagged. It was an adult male bird, and I have sent it to be preserved by Ward, of Vere Street, London. The man from whom we hired the boat, and who accompanied us, said that although he had been in the habit of shooting and fishing about the islands for years he had never seen one before.— (2, Royal Crescent, Scarborough).

—With reference to the remarks which appeared in the January number of 'The Zoologist' on the supposed breeding of the Common Curlew (Numenius arquata) on the Wiltshire Downs, as mentioned in the Appendix to the 'Birds of Marlborough,' it may interest you to know that I have made some enquiries on the subject. Marsh, a labouring man, one of the two Marlborough men who took the eggs and captured an old Curlew, on being shown a stuffed Stone Curlew (Œdicnemus crepitans), immediately identified the bird which he had taken with that species, and when shown the head and wings of the Common Curlew said he had never seen a bird like that before. The only authority, therefore, for the breeding of the Common Curlew near Marlborough is now the list published some fifteen years ago in the 'Flora of Marlborough,' and as only one specimen of this bird has ever been recorded to have been taken near here, there can be little doubt that the species