Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/411

Rh in Swanage Bay on June 23rd. My attention was attracted to a bird approaching me whose flight resembled that of a Cormorant with a Gannet's plumage; it fortunately passed within fifty yards of me, and I had no difficulty in identifying it. That it was a Cormorant I have no doubt, and corresponded with Mr. Gatcombe's account of the Wembury bird, with this difference—the wings and body appeared to be the normal colour of the species, rather than " silvery gray." The difference might only have been, through optical delusion, caused by reflection, the sky at the time I saw it being clear and unclouded. If it is the same bird, and seen in three successive counties, it must be making a tour of the English coast, and by practical experience finding the most favoured spots to satisfy its voracious appetite. Two colonies of Black-headed Gulls have established themselves on lakes between Poole and Studland. At one of these lakes Pochards have bred for the last three years. In the spring of 1875, a male Pochard, incapacitated from accompanying his companions northwards by a fractured wing, was fortunate enough to induce a female to remain with him, and a brood of young red-heads appeared on the lake, which was so carefully and successfully watched that the following year (1876j three broods were hatched. Having only just returned after a long absence from home, I have been unable to assure myself of the progress made in the further propagation of this bird. My friend Mr. W.M. Calcraft writes me word that a few weeks since he observed a hawk (a Peregrine probably) swoop down upon a Black-headed Gull on the wing, but failing to capture the bird he quickly returned and took it up as it floated on the water, and alighted on the ground a short distance off, with the intention of making a repast on the remains, but on the approach of Mr. Calcraft he flew away, leaving the gull in his possession. Curlews have bred this season on the heaths between Poole and Wareham. An egg of this bird was sent me last April, containing a chick just ready to enter upon subaërial life: its length was four inches; bill, three-quarters of an inch. Choughs and Ravens have returned to their old nesting-places on the rugged coast of Purbeck, after extermination before the passing of the Wild Birds Preservation Acts. The Peregrine breeds in Gadcliff (the noble headland on the western side of the so-called "island"), which is happily so steep and precipitous that no human hand can rob it of its young, although it not unfrequently falls to the gun or trap of the inexorable gamekeeper.— (Longthorns, Blandford).

—In the early part of June, I was informed that there were some curious birds breeding at a pool well known as a favourite resort of wild fowl in this vicinity, and that the keeper had never seen any like them there before. So one fine morning I got on board a sailing-boat, and ran down the harbour to the point of land nearest to the pool. From here a short walk