Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 1 (1843).djvu/108

pointing out the distinctions between this species and the very common and well-known pied wagtail of this country, various specimens of the true M. alba of Linneus have been obtained in the counties of Middlesex, Sussex and Cumberland.4. Shore pipit, (Anthus aquaticus, Bechstein). It has been ascertained, by a comparison of specimens, that the A. aquaticus of Bechstein is distinct from the rock pipit of British authors; and we are indebted to Mr. H. Doubleday, for the opportunity of recording the shore pipit as obtained in this country.5. Short-toed lark, (Alauda brachydactyla, Temm.) A single example of this species was caught in a lark-net near Shrewsbury, at the latter end of October, 1841. The specimen is in the possession of Mr. H. Shaw, of Belle-vue Villa, near Shrewsbury. 6. The whiskered tern, (Sterna leucopareia, Natterer). One example of this rare tern has been killed near Weymouth.^[1]—Wm. Yarrell; Ryder St., St. James's, February, 1843.

Note on the occurrence of Woodcocks at Twizell House, in July, 1842.—

"Mr. Selby has also communicated the following notice:—On the 23rd July, 1842, when walking through a straggling whin-covert, on the edge of the moor to the west of Twizell, Mr. Selby was surprised by flushing a woodcock from a small patch of ferns, within a yard or two of his feet; and scarcely had he satisfied himself that he was correct in the bird, when another rose from the same place, which he shot, and which proved to be the male in tolerable feather and condition. No nest or young were discovered, though they might easily have been overlooked on the rough ground . where the old birds were disturbed, and no doubt they had remained in the locality for the purposes of nidification, the habitat being peculiarly favourable for such purposes, dry ground for roosting, and abundance of springy places at hand. Mr. Selby states that this is the first instance of woodcocks remaining over summer in his immediate neighbourhood."—From the Annual Address of the President of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, September 28, 1842.

Note on the occurrence of a Woodcock near Torrington, for five successive years.—

"In the year 1833 a woodcock with white feathers in the wings was observed in a cover on the manor of Monkleigh, near Torrington, in the county of Devon. The same bird, or one of exactly similar plumage, re-appeared in the same place during the four succeeding seasons, in which period it was so repeatedly shot at by different persons without effect, that at last it acquired among the country-people the name of 'the witch.' In the year 1837, however, it was killed by John Piper of Monkleigh, while following the owner of the property which it frequented, the Rev. J. T. Pine Coffin of Portledge, who has now the stuffed specimen in his possession. "The white feathers are the primary quills and bastard winglets of each wing, the remainder of the plumage being of the ordinary hue. These feathers are all of a pure

1. The particulars appear in the December part of Mr. Yarrell's 'History of British Birds.'