Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/79

Rh Bustard have visited us during the last ten years. In the previous month I saw a fine Hoopoe, which had been shot at Branksome Tower, near Bournemouth, on the 15th September: it was in the hands of Mr. Green, a birdstuffer there. I also obtained in the spring of last year, from the neighbouring parish of Broadchalke, a fine specimen of the Great Gray Shrike (Lanius excubitor), which had been killed in that parish in Easter week: it is, as far as I can judge, an adult female.— (Britford Vicarage, Salisbury).

—I am inclined to think that birds lay their eggs rather earlier than has been stated, although not, as some affirm, in the middle of the night, and for this reason;—Some time ago I wished to see what time a certain Green Woodpecker laid, and for three mornings I went about 5.15, and an egg was always there. The next morning I went a little after four o'clock, when she flew out of the hole, but there was no egg; in another hour and a half, however, it had been deposited. Again, when out in the spring mornings about six o'clock, I nearly always noticed that nests previously found had each an extra egg in them.—

—Mr. Edward Hart, the well-known naturalist, of Christchurch, informed me not long ago that in the spring of last year (1876), during May, there was a flock of some five hundred Bartailed Godwits in the Christchurch Estuary, which remained there for some ten days or a fortnight: they were all in full summer plumage, and presented to a bird-preserver a most enticing shot, but the Act duly protected them. He had been in the business, he told me, many years, and had lived at Christchurch all his life, more than thirty years, and had never seen a similar sight before. This in itself speaks volumes in behalf of the Act.—

—In my communication to 'The Zoologist' on this variety of the Dipper (2nd ser. 1871) I expressed my opinion that the very few Dippers which had been procured in this district would probably turn out to be Cinclus melanogaster. Knowing that a Dipper had been shot at Easington, and preserved by Mr. Lawton, of that place, when in that neighbourhood a short time ago I called in to have a look at it, and my surmise, in this instance, turned out to be correct, as it is a fine specimen of the black-breasted Dipper. It was shot on the 24th October, 1874.— (Beverley).

—We have much pleasure in being able to record what we believe to be the second instance of the occurrence of this bird in Ireland. A fine specimen has been forwarded to us for preservation, shot some miles from Carrick-on-Shannon. It was observed from the drawingroom window, pursued by a number of Magpies, when it was followed by the observer and shot. From being much injured internally, we were unable to