feathers, like those in the breast of a hen chaffinch; scapulars, smaller wing-coverts and greater wing-coverts generally white, but a few of them black; wing-feathers, five exterior white, then three as in the chaffinch, then one white, two dark brown, and the remainder white,—the edges of all are tinged with yellow; tail white, except the second feather on each side, which has a black longitudinal mark. This beautiful bird was shot at Swain's Hill, three miles from Basingstoke, in Hampshire, and was brought to me in the flesh: Mr. Hall has now skinned it, and obligingly offers to show it to any ornithologist who will call on him.-Edward Newman.

Is the House Sparrow (Fringilla domestica) injurious or beneficial to Agriculture? -In the 'Zoologist' for August (Zool. 2188) Mr. Peacock proposes the following question: "Is the sparrow injurious or beneficial to the farmer? " This is a question of so much importance to the agriculture of this country, that I should rejoice to see it for ever settled, and I know of no better medium for adjusting the matter than through the excellent pages of this periodical, where, by having the contributions of practical men from all districts, bearing upon the point, we may ultimately arrive at the truth. I shall detail a plan, devised by intelligent "matter-of-fact" men, for testing the merits of the bird under consideration in this district. For many years this parish has suffered much from the common sparrow; and in the winter of 1847 this plan was laid for his destruction, and so far it has succeeded remarkably well. Still it is only an experiment: the object was to see whether the neighbourhood would be best with or without the sparrow, and of course time will be required to test it fully. The agriculturists of this neighbourhood formed themselves into an "Association for Killing Sparrows," and each member, under pain of forfeit, was obliged to produce six birds every fortnight for nine months in each year. The result was, that during the first two months 1000 sparrows were sent to the Secretary; and, as near as can be calculated, the number for the year will be 3000 or 3500,-a pretty good stock to people about 3400 acres. Up to the present time our corn has suffered comparatively little, and garden peas entirely escaped,—a matter of great moment to a horticultural neighbourhood. Having so good an opportunity of examining the crops and gizzards of the birds killed, I determined to avail myself of it to a considerable extent. I have examined hundreds, at all periods of the year, and am obliged to confess that in the old birds I have never found any insects, but always wheat and barley, occasionally mixed with a few seeds. How much they consume I cannot calculate with accuracy, but in the crops of five birds I have found 180 good, plump and excellent grains of wheat; in six crops 80 grains of barley; and in two others 74 grains of wheat. The number of grains contained in the crop of a bird varied from 2 to 56, according to the time of feeding before they were shot. At a meeting of the Club (consisting of fourteen individuals) each person was of opinion that during the month one sparrow destroyed a quart of corn, so that 1000 sparrows would eat 1000 quarts or 31 strikes, or nearly 4 quarters of corn. This, taken throughout each month of the year, would make 48 quarters, which, if sold in the market at 35s. per quarter, would have fetched £84. This may seem exaggerated, but I do not think it is; for I have known one field (which the owner had neglected to tend) despoiled of about five quarters in a season; and let any person accustomed to agricultural pursuits, when he sees the head-lands of fields destroyed, make his calculation as to the quantity taken, and I fear that he will have reason to agree with me. It has been argued that sparrows in winter obtain their food chiefly from farm-doors, and from straw with which cattle is foddered; but if so, the farmer's fowls, ducks and geese are robbed in the former case,

and his cattle in the latter. It is evident, however, from the appearance of the grains found in their crops,-which are generally remarkably good, plump and excellent,— that it is in a great measure procured from the sides of corn-ricks, in which they burrow almost to the tail, and thus rob the farmer of a portion of that produce which ought to have been sold in the market. To sum up my observations: as far as I can judge the sparrow is an insectivorous bird only when very young, and then his diet is varied with soft green peas, or, as the season advances, milky grain from wheat-fields. For nine months or more of the first year of his existence he feeds on grain, and when reared he exists almost entirely upon it. Anecdotes, I am aware, are on record of the sparrow carrying to its nest great numbers of insects, and these anecdotes are often recorded by persons who are no naturalists, and who mistake the insectivorous hedge accentor for the common sparrow. Look at a sparrow's bill! What is that bill made for? To crack grain or pick up insects? I have penned these observations with reluctance, knowing that our high authorities-Yarrell, Jesse, Knapp, &c.—are of a contrary opinion, and until I examined the subject for myself I coincided with them; but I cannot shut my eyes to facts. I would willingly have recorded in favour of the sparrow a verdict of "not guilty" of the depredations imputed to him, but my evidence is against him. Doubtless this bird was created originally, like other animals, for a wise and useful purpose, and was kept in due bounds by the hawks, owls, and predatory birds, and thus prevented from becoming an annoyance; but in stepped the gamepreserver, destroyed the predatory birds, and thus left the sparrow at liberty to increase. Now some other means must be devised for his being kept in subjection. Your readers would render essential service to agriculture if they would give their opinions upon this subject. If the sparrow is a grain-destroyer he ought to he destroyed. Corn that will feed birds will feed men.-John Joseph Briggs; King's Newton, Melbourne, Derbyshire, September 20, 1848.

Occurrence of the Hawfinch (Loxia coccothraustes) at Knaresborough.—A specimen of the hawfinch was taken near this place in a trap, during the winter of 1846-7; I have another which was shot at Scriven, about a mile from Knaresborough, in 1836; and a third specimen was seen in company with that last mentioned: it is a rare bird here.—James C. Garth ; Knaresborough, October 17, 1848.

Proposed alteration of Name in the European White-winged Crossbill, and Occurrence of the American White-winged Crossbill in England.-In preparing a list of Godalming birds as part of the Appendix to the 'Letters of Rusticus,' I have been very greatly assisted by Mr. Salmon and Mr. Henry Doubleday, whose revision was absolutely necessary before I could publish the mass of interesting materials in my hands. The name of the white-winged crossbill having been added to the list by Mr. Salmon, Mr. Doubleday informs me that the bird which has occurred several times in Britain, and which is figured and described in Yarrell's' British Birds,' is totally distinct from the American white-winged crossbill: in this opinion Mr. Yarrell coincides, and in his note to me adds the interesting information that a single specimen of the American bird has also occurred in Britain, he believes in Dorsetshire. The nomenclature of the two species may therefore stand thus:The European bird or Two-barred Crossbill the Loxia bifasciata of Nilsson, the Crucirostra bifasciata of Brehm, the Loxia tanioptera of Gloger, and the Loxia leucoptera of Jenyns, Gould, Eyton, and Yarrell. The North-American bird or White-winged Crossbill Gmelin, Wilson, Bonaparte, and Richardson.-Edward Newman.

-

=

the Loxia leucoptera of

Discoloured Eggs of the Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis).-Eggs of the green woodpecker similar in colour to those mentioned by Mr. Newton (Zool. 2229), as having been taken near Elveden last spring, are by no means of rare occurrence, and I believe the peculiarity is attributable to their having been stained by the moisture in the rotten part of the tree in which the eggs are placed. On the 18th of May, 1846, I took five such eggs from a nest in a decayed elm, two of which I gave to Mr. Bartlett (well known to the readers of the 'Zoologist' as the discoverer of the new duck, Paget's pochard), and he afterwards told me that all the colour was very easily removed by simply wiping them with a little wet tow. This is certainly the case; for one of the remaining three was cleaned with the end of the finger dipped in water. tainly is not a proof that the colour is only an accidental stain; for the large dark blotches on the eggs of the guillemot are very easily removed with moisture, which colour I believe no one will consider as extraneous; but there is other evidence for believing it to be so in the woodpecker's eggs, viz., that the feathers of the birds themselves are often much stained, and even matted together in the breeding-season, looking much as though they were stained or painted with liver-colour on the upper tail-coverts and rump, and then varnished: this was the case with the male of the nest from which my eggs were taken.—R. F. Tomes ; Welford, Stratford-on-Avon, September 22, 1848.

It cer

Discoloured Eggs of the Green Woodpecker.-In reply to the inquiries of your correspondent, Mr. Hansell (Zool. 2258), respecting a previous note of mine (Zool. 2229), I have to say that the branch of the tree—an ash—in which the woodpecker's nest he refers to was, is so situated that it is impossible that any rain could soak into it, and that there is not now, nor was at the time the eggs were in it, any fungus whose juice could have stained them. The appearance of the eggs is at once, I think, conclusive to show that they could not have been coloured in any way after they were laid. The colouring matter, as in the case of sparrow-hawks' and other eggs, easily comes off, and being of a thin substance the polish of the surface is seen through it. I have within a few days been told by a good naturalist, to whom I showed the eggs in question, that some years ago he received from a person in this neighbourhood a similar egg; and further, he was told by an occasional contributor to the Zoologist,' that he this year obtained a coloured specimen of the egg of this woodpecker. For your own and your correspondent's satisfaction, I send you the names of the persons I have referred to; but as I have not their leave for your so doing, I beg you will not print them. If your correspondent is still dissatisfied, I should recommend him next spring, when the sap of the ash tree is up, to try whether it has any effect in colouring a bird's egg.-Alfred Newton; Elveden, October 9, 1848.

Occurrence of the Hoopoe (Upupa Epops) and other rare British Birds near Banff. -In September, 1832, a specimen of the hoopoe was caught alive in the plantations surrounding Duff House, which is in the immediate vicinity of Banff. Of these plantations, which extend for miles in all directions, the public at large are, by the well-known liberality of the Earl of Fife, allowed, at all times and without any exceptions, to have the unrestricted range. From the circumstance of its having been secured by the hand, the specimen in question had in all probability been, more or less, in a state of exhaustion; and, through some casualty connected with the weather, had probably been driven beyond the limits of its usual haunts. It was obtained by those who were unacquainted with its habits, and it did not survive for any time. In its stomach were found the remains of insects. This is the only instance, within my knowledge, of the hoopoe having been seen or heard of in this particular part of the

country. Now, however, that attention is beginning in some measure to be paid to the works of creation, even in localities where, at no distant period, such an employment of leisure time would have been regarded as an unquestionable proof of insanity, it is not improbable that we shall be found to have had, all along, both plants and animals among us, of the presence of which we had previously neither knowledge nor suspicion. As an example of this, I may mention that, in the beginning of July this year, a nest of the quail (Coturnix dactylisonans) was found in a field of hay, in the neighbouring parish of New Deer, about six miles from where I reside. It contained twelve eggs, all of them resembling the first of the three varieties figured by Mr. Hewitson. The people on the farm say that they meet with a similar nest every year: they consider the eggs as those of a curious kind of corn crake (landrail), and nothing will convince them to the contrary. A specimen, in very fine condition, of the rednecked grebe (Podiceps rubricollis) was shot, during the bygone spring, on an artificial lake in this parish. On this lake, a good many years ago, a specimen was obtained of the pochard or male dunbird (Fuligula ferina), which is very rarely to be seen in this northern part of the country. I had lately brought me for examination a specimen of a Totanus or inland sandpiper, which to my surprise answered in every respect to the description given by the most accurate writers on the male ruff (Machetes pugnax), in the autumnal plumage of the first year. It was shot in an extensive moss in this parish; and the character of the surface and of the vegetation, in the particular spot where it was obtained, is exactly the same as that of the localities which the ruff is said to frequent amid the Lincolnshire fens. I am not aware that the ruff has been previously heard of in this part of the kingdom.-James Smith; Manse of Monquhitter by Turriff, Aberdeenshire, October 2, 1848.

Occurrence of the Roller (Coracias garrula) near Banff.—On the 25th of September last there was shot in the woods of Boyndie, near Banff, a specimen of the roller. This is a bird of very great rarity, and has only been met with seven or eight times in the whole kingdom. With the exception of one, which was obtained many years ago near to the loch of Strathbeg,-an extensive sheet of water on the sea-coast between Peterhead and Fraserburgh,—I am not aware of any specimen having been previously seen or heard of in this part of the country. The one to which I am alluding proved on dissection to be a female. Although the plumage would seem in some parts not to have reached its full maturity, it nevertheless exhibits colouring of exquisite beauty, particularly on the under wing-coverts, the upper portion of which is of a delicate pale sea-green, and the remainder of the richest purplish or mazarine blue, changing in hue and intensity according to the light in which it is viewed. The line in which these birds are to be found is farther to the east than our own island; and as a strong gale had blown from that quarter for some days previously to its being killed, it is probable that it had, in this manner, been driven out of its usual course. It was, however, in no danger from famine, for its stomach was completely crammed with the remains of the insects on which it had been feeding: these consisted of dragon-flies (Libellula), of the black and red burying-beetle (Necrophorus), of the small green or grass beetle, but principally of the common dor or clock (Geotrupes stercorarius): one small brown beetle with a black head, which is to be met with on trees and bushes, was found entire. When shot, the bird was in the act of flying from one tree to another.-Id.

Swallows (Hirundo rustica) dug out of Hedge-banks.-There is a farmer named Waters, residing at Catsfield (adjoining parish), who informs me he has frequently

(some years ago) dug swallows out of banks in winter, while widening the ditches in the brooks, &c.-J. B. Ellman; Battel, September 23, 1848.

Swallows, and a Plea on their Behalf.-May 4th, 1848, saw the first swallow, a solitary bird. About the 8th of May saw another at a different place. May 12th, saw two swallows together this morning, and four in company about the same spot in the evening. After the last date swallows gradually become more numerous, though not only was their first appearance unusually late, but up to the period of my quitting Clifton, June 13th, very few birds, comparatively, were to be seen. Indeed my impression is, that, generally, the race of swallows has greatly diminished, owing, partially at least, to the silly and cruel practice of shooting them. Silly, because they are not good practice in the art of shooting, since, by taking them at a particular moment of their flight, they may be killed with the greatest certainty; while the same individual could not hit a sparrow or a partridge. The pastime of swallow shooting must also be pronounced wanton cruelty, because they not simply are among the most inoffensive of the feathered tribe, but even must be acknowledged valuable benefactors to us, when we recollect the myriads of troublesome and noxious insects which— their sole food—every swallow, old and young, consumes during its short sojourn with us. In proportion as the birds are destroyed of course those insects will increase,—a just retribution for the cruelty now reprobated. There is another consideration, too, which appears to be utterly disregarded by swallow-shooters; it is the number of nestlings which they, for mere amusement, render orphans, and condemn to the lingering and painful death of cold and starvation.-Arthur Hussey; Clifton, Gloucestershire.

A Martin (Hirundo urbica) with the middle Tail-feather white.—I shot a housemartin last August which had the middle feather of the tail perfectly white.-George Wolley; Huyton, September 29, 1848.

Partiality of the Common Guinea-fowl for Toads.-Most animals have, I believe, a deep-rooted antipathy to the toad. The dog turns away from it in disgust; and I have more than once seen my own dog, when urged to attack one, drop the reptile from his mouth in such a manner as to show that he felt the effects of the acrid excretion which exudes from its skin when irritated. That the guinea-fowl, however, has a partiality to toads is a fact which may not, perhaps, have been generally observed. I have constantly seen our guinea-fowls attack a toad, and have watched them beating it for some minutes against the ground with their beaks, until almost motionless, when they bolt it. I have never seen them serve a frog thus: either from its greater agility it keeps out of their reach, or they prefer the toad. I have often seen ducks, on the contrary, eat frogs, but not toads.-A. B. Hemsworth; Thropham Hall, Norfolk, October 13, 1848.

Description of a Sandpiper which was shot near Bootle, in September, 1847.-This bird was shot as it rose from a pit, in company with some snipes, by a man named John Ashton, then in the employment of Mr. George Thomas, bird-stuffer, London Road, Liverpool, in whose possession it now is. The striking peculiarity of this bird is the great length of its legs and neck. Beak one inch and one-eighth; from the point to the gape one inch and three-eighths, nearly black, darkest at the tip; irides nearly black; over the eye a white streak; the top of the head, beak and wing-coverts dark brown, with light brown spots, triangular in shape on the margin of each feather, some of the spots more elongated, and those on the wing-coverts nearly white; primaries black, the shaft of the first white; upper tail-coverts white, barred with dark brown, the centre ones having three bars, the outer ones but two; tail-feathers white,