Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/506

476 The light margins of the tertiaries were very conspicuous as it flew, giving it somewhat the appearance of an immature Pied Flycatcher. There was nothing in the stomach. It arrived when the wind was south-west. On Sept. 7th I shot an immature Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites rufescens) near the same spot. It appeared a dull sandy colour as it rose, and the flight was slow. It was a fine day, with north-west wind following forty-eight hours of a wet south-easter. It proved to be a male, and there were some green-coated beetles in the stomach. Both birds were afterwards examined by Mr. J.H. Gurney at Norwich. I believe this Sandpiper has not occurred in Norfolk for fifty-six years. Curiously enough, I was not far off when the last Icterine was killed by Mr. R. Gurney in 1896, and I saw his bird in the flesh. We compared the two in Norwich Museum, and they were very similar, but some skins then produced were of a decidedly yellower colour.— (The Close, Winchester).

Swallows and Hobbies.—Last year, on Sept. 8th, while watching the vast gatherings of Swallows and Martins which at this time assemble to roost in a large withy-bed near here, I observed a small long-winged Hawk darting about among them, but was unable to determine the species owing to the growing darkness. During the last few days, however, I have repeatedly seen one or more Hobbies (Falco subbuteo) performing wonderful evolutions among the dense clouds of Swallows at sunset, and looking themselves very much like Swallows magnified two or three times. Last night (Sept. 11th) a Hobby arrived rather too soon, and made off again when he found no Swallows in the usual place. I have not as yet been able to see these beautiful little Falcons secure a victim, nor did the Swallows appear to be much disconcerted by their presence. Except at this time of year, I have never seen a Hobby here, and I suppose it is possible that these birds are following the Swallows on their autumnal migration. I find that in his 'Birds of Wilts,' p. 73, the Rev. A.C. Smith noted a similar occurrence in that county, when several Hobbies waited upon vast flocks of Sand Martins which assembled nightly to roost in withy-beds.— (Kingham, Chipping Norton).

Breeding of the Tufted Duck in South-west Derbyshire.—As the records of the breeding of this Duck (Fuligula cristata) in Derbyshire are somewhat scanty, and in the new edition of Howard Saunders's 'Manual' it is not mentioned in the list of counties in which this bird is known to breed, the following notes with regard to the Ashbourne district are worth recording:—F.B. Whitlock ('Birds of Derbyshire,' p. 172) mentions, on the authority of Mr. F.B. Wright, that "a pair bred at Osmaston Manor Lake in 1854." No doubt they bred occasionally after that date, but it was not until about 1886 that they began regularly to resort to the ponds for