Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/506

476 lines from bottom), for "pink chocolate" read "pale chocolate."—(G.B.C.)

Little Owl at Henley.—I do not know what may be thought of the status of the Little Owl (Athene noctua) as a migrant, but I saw one to-day (Nov. 7th), shot yesterday at Wyfold Court, near Henley, Oxon. I do not think it is mentioned in Mr. Aplin's 'Birds of Oxfordshire.'— (54, London Street, Reading).

Circus cineraceus in Northamptonshire.—A Montagu's Harrier in the plumage of the first year was shot at Whittlebury, near Towcester, about the middle of April, 1901, and came into my possession some months later. I am inclined to think it is a female. The late Lord Lilford only mentions ('Birds of Northamptonshire') one instance of the occurrence of this species in the county.— (Bloxham, Oxon).

Peregrine Falcon in Berkshire.—On Nov. 2nd last, a very fine adult Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) was shot at Aston Upthorne, near Wallingford, Berks, while being mobbed by Rooks. It was brought to me in the flesh.— (54, London Street, Reading).

The Ringed-necked Duck as a British Bird.—I cannot understand why the Ringed-necked or Collared Duck should, by almost universal custom, be excluded from the number of accidental visitors on the list of British Birds. Donovan, in his 'Natural History of British Birds' (vol. vi. 1809), states that a specimen occurred to him in the month of January, 1801, among a number of wildfowl exposed for sale in Leadenhall Market. It was a male, and was supposed to have been taken in the fens of Lincolnshire. More than one species (e.g. the American Wigeon) has been admitted into the British list on claims no stronger than this. We may safely assume that a hundred years ago no wildfowl came imported for the table into the London market from the other side of the Atlantic. There can be no question about the bird having been correctly identified, for we have Donovan's coloured plate (No. 147) of this handsome Duck to refer to. The Ringed-necked Duck was at that date not merely a new British bird, but altogether undescribed. Donovan was accordingly the original describer of this species, and the name he then bestowed upon it still stands. Fuligula collaris (Donovan) is its name in the new Hand-List of Birds. This Duck, therefore, like Botaurus lentiginosus, is an American species first described from an example which had accidentally occurred in Europe. The Ringed-necked Duck has a wide distribution, and ranges, according to Dr. Elliot ('The Wildfowl of North America'), over the whole