Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/256

230 of plumage to which the Common Partridge is liable, he says (p. 80), "those birds which frequent and are bred on the marshy grounds of the Zuyder Zee and mouth of the Meuse are less in size and of a duller tint than those found in the drier lands of Belgium." He observes correctly enough in his very first sentence that "this variety has been said to be more frequently found in alpine districts than in lowlands, but they are known to mingle occasionally with those of the common plumage." Some years ago we received a Partridge of this colour, which with others like it had been shot in Northumberland: it is preserved in the collection of Mr. Bond.—.]

—In every point of its economy the Cuckoo seems destined to perplex naturalists. The occasional occurrence of brown Cuckoos in the spring must be known to everyone who has made a study of British birds. I say "brown" as contrasted with the adult gray plumage. They generally are more rufous than the young of the year, these brown birds differing from them about as much as the young in September often differ from one another. I have seen several of these curiously-coloured Cuckoos, and I have two in my possession, one a male shot at or near Cambridge in 1868, and another, the sex of which was not ascertained, shot at Bridlington, in Yorkshire. The latter measures:—Wing, 7¾ inches; tarsus, ½ inch; culmen, ⅝ inch. Both are small, under-sized birds, and I may add that both have the occiput blotched with white, but I do not know that this is curious, as I have often noticed it in young Cuckoos in September.— (Northrepps Hall, Norwich).

—On the 6th April I came upon a pair of these little birds among some furze-bushes on the heath near Blaxhall, Suffolk. One of them (probably the male) was flying restlessly from bush to bush, something in the manner of a Stonechat or Whinchat, uttering all the while a sort of scolding note, similar to that of many of the warblers when nesting: the other was shyer, and kept diving into the bushes, not allowing me to have a good view of her. This is the second time I have met with this bird near here. (See 'Zoologist,' 1874, p. 3865). Mr. Stevenson, in the same volume (p. 3914), mentions a specimen shot on Nacton Heath as being the only other Suffolk example he was aware of; so that the above-mentioned pair make the third occurrence, so far as I know, of this species in this county.— (Blaxhall, Wickham Market).

—On February 3rd I observed a Rednecked Grebe on the large sheet of water in Wanstead Park. My companion and myself, both provided with telescopes, were able to approach within easy range by taking advantage of its diving. The bird was unmistakably a Grebe, and in order to verify the species with certainty I made a rough sketch on the spot, noting the following characters;—The white on the throat and cheeks clearly defined and running back under the black