again, and with the like result, except that both birds "fell;" though I could not, in my most eager ambition, think I had hit both, when they were ten or fifteen yards apart. The fact was, they were unharmed by the lead, and preferred a hiding-place in a thick hedge to a more extended flight. And perfectly safe they were in their hiding-place: neither I nor my dog could give any further account of them at that time. An ivied tree also has charms for them; as well as a thick pollard oak. Where the banks of the Whitadder are wooded I often see them; and in one part a little below Edrington-castle on the opposite side, where are some ivied trees close by a path which overhangs the river, I have roused several. These always flew to the water, dived and did not reappear. On or near a large pond at Foulden, adjoining the road and separated by it from a row of cottages, six or eight may always be seen. They walk about in the road, and near the doors, and are almost as tame as common ducks. This does honour to the Scottish peasantry, for I am sure that in no part of England with which I am acquainted would the birds, in such a situation, be left unmolested. At Fawleycourt in Herefordshire a single moorhen came to feed with the fowls and ducks during the hard weather, and often might be seen a few paces from where the labourers were getting their dinner;- it is almost needless to say that with them it was a favourite. But my notes are assuming an undue length: I therefore will not trespass further on the pages of The Zoologist' or the patience of its readers.-J. C. Atkinson; Hutton, January 18, 1844.

Notes on the Dabchick. Some months ago I threw together a few notes on the habits of the dabchick, which I intended for the pages of 'The Zoologist;' they were however left incomplete, and were consequently not sent for insertion. In the December number (Zool. 364) appeared Mr. Parsons' notes on the same subject, which served to remind me of my unfinished paper, and at the same time hinted, that if sent now, it would be de trop. But on reading Mr. P.'s account, I thought there was still ground open to me; and that, leaving out the observations which are common to both accounts, and noticing only such facts as Mr. P., from difference of locality, or other circumstances, has left untouched, or those which exhibited a little variety in the habits of the bird, my notes might yet be worthy of insertion. For a space of between two and three years, the dabchick or little grebe came almost daily under my notice during several months in the year. They frequented a piece of water-locally called a mere of variable size. It averaged probably seven or eight acres; but at times, owing to drought and evaporation, its contents were almost exhausted towards the end of sumBut the rain and snow of winter soon refilled it, and it had attained its maximum about the middle or end of May. Up to this time it presented a surface unbroken by a single weed; but then speedily appeared a crop of water-herbage, so luxuriant and dense as in many parts almost entirely to conceal the water. A spot thus adapted to the habits of water-fowl was not likely to remain untenanted. Coots, moorhens, wild-ducks &c. frequented it, and the little grebe bred there in numbers every spring. Having taken their departure at the close of the preceding autumn, these little birds generally reappeared about or a little before the middle of April; the 13th or 14th are my dates in the years 1839, 1840. It was observable that the whole group, to the number of twelve or fourteen in those years,* made their appearance at the same time: there were no successive arrivals, if I except the occasional arrival of a single pair sub

mer.

*This year I believe there were from fifteen to twenty pairs, besides numbers of coots and moor-hens.

sequent to that of the main body. The pairing seemed to have taken place previously to their advent; for at whatever time I regarded them, it was never difficult to make out the several pairs. Two or three weeks at least elapsed after their arrival ere the labours of nidification were commenced; for the weeds had not yet shown themselves, and there was consequently nothing on which to raise, or to which to attach, the superstructure. At this time it was by no means unusual to observe one or other of them on the wing: but they never extended their flights beyond the limits of the mere, and after circling two or three times around it they alighted not far from the spot from which they had risen. Their flight was tolerably rapid; more so certainly than that of the moorhen. They rose too from the water without apparent difficulty, and without flapping along the surface for so long a distance as both the coot and moorhen often do. This flight was quite distinct from the "flacking along the water" of which Mr. Parsons speaks, and which I also witnessed continually. Indeed it was not at all uncommon to see the bird flying at the height of from six to ten feet from the water. While making these aerial excursions, they frequently uttered their note or cry. It is remarkable that they never took wing when disturbed. I was often rowing about among them for two or three hours together, and however suddenly I broke from profound stillness into action, or even noisy exertion, and that within a few yards of some of them, they invariably dived; nor was the case altered at the report of a gun, whether near or remote. At first coming they were shy of a near approach, but afterwards they would permit the boat, if quietly propelled, to come within fifteen or twenty yards. When very quietly and slowly approached, they displayed the first symptom of uneasiness by gradually sinking themselves until only the head and rump were above the surface; and then, on the slightest motion, the little bird dived so quickly that it was most difficult to distinguish whether it went down head or tail first: after a few seconds it reappeared at the distance of some thirty yards, and, shaking its head, swam merrily away. If not further alarmed, and the boat could be kept near them while in this partially submerged state, they would continue in it for some minutes: but I never detected them in the position so often resorted to for safety by the moorhen, in which no part of the body, but the beak only, is left out of water. That they do so I am well aware, and I believe the young birds had recourse to this mode of concealment on the piece of water in question; but I am inclined to think that when the adults have scope for diving, they must be very hard pressed indeed before they imitate the moorhens in seeking safety by thus submerging themselves. At all events I could not detect them in that position, though I repeatedly sought to do so; and moreover, I do not remember one single instance in which the dabchick I was watching did not reappear after diving. It emerged as quickly and suddenly as it had dived: and if, having made a correct guess at the direction it had taken, the boat were urged in that direction by a few vigorous strokes of the oars, so as to be near at hand when the bird emerged, the marvellous rapidity with which it again disappeared, was amusing and singularly striking. It seemed to be but the completion of a motion only begun when it rose; like that of a fish rising at a fly, and disappearing at the same instant. But I never failed to see it again a few seconds afterwards. When the appearance of the weeds in two or three parts of the mere permitted them to begin their nests, little time

* I speak of course of experiments made when the state of the weeds was such as both to permit me to make them with certainty, and at the same time give the bird the option of remaining submerged, if it would.

was lost. Those spots not very near the margin, in which grew a few bulrushes, were much affected. The nest seldom rose more than an inch or two above the water, although composed of a large mass of weeds; nor was it ever placed near the edge, but for the most part not less than twenty or thirty yards from it. Most of the nests seemed to be built altogether irrespectively of concealment. They were generally quite soaked with water, and the least depression by the hand or otherwise caused the water to rise in them: nor did a single instance come to my knowledge, whether by experience or in answer to enquiry, in which the nest was dry, excepting only those few cases in which it was left dry or nearly so by the shrinking of the limits of the mere in consequence of a hot dry season. I may also remark that I never saw a nest, not deserted, left uncovered, and the covering almost invariably consisted of freshly-gathered weeds, of what species I am not botanist enough to know. I have often seen the parent bird pecking away right and left, and then slip quietly off the nest as I drew near. I omit most of my remarks relative to the colouring of the eggs, which is, however, a very curious subject; for to what cause is it due? Not to mud (see Yarrell in loco) certainly in this case, for the soil adjacent is chiefly sand upon chalk. And if the colour must be ascribed to the weeds, is the dabchick's the only white egg so affected? The young birds are no sooner hatched than they take to the water. I have never succeeded in finding one in the nest, though I suppose it is probable they return to it for the night. In truth I cannot give any very accurate account of them after the young had made their appearance. The time for close observation, owing to the growth of the weeds, had gone by when the general hatch took place; and later in the season, all observation whatever was precluded. Hence too I was unable to ascertain with exactness at what period they left the mere; but by the time the weeds had died down, they were gone. Sometimes, indeed, the rapid wasting of the water must have precipitated their departure; and in 1839 the mere was almost dry in September. Neither could I ascertain whither they went. There were a few running brooks in the neighbourhood; and in them perhaps a few might have passed the winter. But from never meeting with even a solitary individual at any time during the winter months, I am quite inclined to think that the great bulk of the tenants of the mere accomplished a migration of some length. To the sea, at the nearest point, was from twenty to twenty-five miles. Could they have gone thither, as the coots most probably did, on their being driven away by the setting in of frost? I have noticed that the dabchicks' note might sometimes be heard proceeding from an individual on the wing. This sound, which was of frequent occurrence in the early part of the season only, may be nearly imitated by drawing a longish stick rapidly along common paling, so as to produce a rather shrill sound. I have not unfrequently come suddenly upon a little grebe in some of the pools formed in the large rills of the saltings where the water has exerted its wasting influence at the bendings of the channels. The bottom of these pools is soft mud, which does not permit the growth of sea-weed or other plants that might form a concealment ; and yet I could never get a second glimpse of the little diver after he had once caught sight of me, which he was pretty sure to do at least as soon as I espied him. What became of him I was at a loss to discover. He could not have left the pool unseen, nor yet have remained in complete submersion, as I have staid ten or fifteen minutes at a time, hoping to see him again. If it had been able, by any means, to keep itself submerged all but the beak, I think I should have detected it; for I had but a small space to scrutinize, and have often succeeded in detecting the moorhen, even under less favourable circumstances. I can only account for its non-appearance

by supposing that it crept into some crab's hole, of which there were many in the hard mud of the bank. And the fact that it does resort to a similar means of concealment, namely, a rat's hole in the bank of a ditch, renders this supposition less improbable. The fact to which I allude is the capture of a grebe by my father, many years ago. He saw it go into the hole and caught it there. I have shot others of the genusthe tippet-grebe &c.-from a boat in the larger creeks aud channels of the sea, as well as at some distance from the coast: but I never met with the little grebe in any part of the salt water, except the pools above named. That their transit to these haunts from the "fleets" mentioned by Mr. Parsons, occasions them but little trouble, I cannot doubt, from the frequency of their indulgence in the aerial trips above mentioned, in which, moreover, they proved themselves possessed of both strength and considerable rapidity of flight. And having thus conducted them over the sea-wall" on the strength" of their wings, I bid my amusing little friends heartily farewell, wishing them "good luck to their fishing."-Id.

Note on the occurrence of the Crested Grebe in Middlesex. I have received a specimen of the great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus), which was shot in that part of the Thames called Penton-hook, near Laleham, Middlesex. It is a young bird in its first winter, and consequently the crest is imperfect. Whole length 22 inches, from the carpal joint to end of the longest feathers 8 inches. I mention this because it is the first I ever knew captured in this part of the country.—F. A. Chennell; Stoke, Guildford, February 16, 1844.

Note on the occurrence of the Iceland Gull at Yarmouth. The occurrence of the Iceland gull so far south as Yarmouth, is so rare, that a notice of its capture, though not recent, will perhaps be interesting. Three birds of this species were killed near the harbour's mouth on the 14th of January, 1830, by Mr. D. B. Preston of this town, and several others were obtained about the same time, one of which was in adult plumage. I learn from Mr. Preston that the birds which he killed were all immature, apparently in the plumage of the second year, and he adds that they are immediately known by their flight, which resembles that of a hawk. I should have mentioned in my notice of the fire-crested Regulus, that it forms an addition to the list of birds found in this neighbourhood.-William R. Fisher; Great Yarmouth, February 7, 1844.

A Fauna of Moray. By the Rev. G. GORDON.

(Concluded from p. 429)

II. BIRDS.

THE Province of Moray, particularly that part of it which surrounds its capital, the town of Elgin, has been long famed for the salubrity of its climate. Its Ornithology, as shown in the following list, will not detract from this celebrity. And perhaps by no more impartial or stronger criterion could it be tested. The Grampians may prevent the more tender plants of southern Floras from crossing their lofty range, but they present no barrier to the migrations of the feathered tribes in search of a genial summer clime. The growth and flourish

ing of exotics are often liable to challenge, as sufficient proof, on the score of their suspected natural hardihood or of the artificial heat or protection they may receive: or, the favouring tradition, or the love of fatherland, might unconsciously influence the native, or make sceptical the foreigner; but no such prepossessions or antipathies can regulate the determinations of any species of bird to select our woods or waters for their winter abodes. The stated occurrence here in summer of the quail, the redstart, &c., and the permanent or winter residence of the creeper, the golden-crested wren, the two Motacillæ, and some others, mark the superiority of the "flat of Moray" over the same parallels, and even over many a more southern degree of latitude. The knowledge of the Ornithology of Moray was greatly extended by the discoveries of the late Henry S. Foljambe, Esq., of Nottingham, who, during the few years that he resided at Grant-lodge, in the vicinity of Elgin, detected many species formerly unknown to the Province. Possessing an intimate acquaintance with many branches of Natural History, this department seemed to be his favourite study. Having devoted his leisure hours, while in England, to the observation of their characters and habits, he was able at once to point out and name several distinct species which had hitherto been overlooked or mistaken by observers in this district of Scotland.

Golden eagle, Aquila Chrysaetos. Resident only in the alpine. districts of the Province, and even there becoming more scarce every year through the unremitting warfare waged against them by the shepherd and gamekeeper. A splendid specimen was trapped last year on Lord Cawdor's moors, in the Streens on the Findhorn. When a nest with young has been discovered, a most barbarous practice is in some places adopted. The poor fledgelings are maimed, shackled, or have ligatures tied tightly around different parts of their bodies, so as to make them keep up a constant screaming. The parents, thinking that this arises from the cravings of hunger, cease not to bring in a supply, chiefly of grouse, which, being unheeded by the tortured family, are daily carried off by their inhuman tormentor, in numbers and with an ease not experienced by any other mode of poaching.

The Erne, A. albicilla. The southern shores of the Moray-frith afford no cliffs suitable for the permanent abode of this species; but stragglers have been occasionally seen. A few years ago Mr. Martin observed one in a disabled state on the sandy beach near Innes-house, which was supposed to have been the one afterwards taken in the neighbourhood of Pitgaveny.