7th. Are the lapwings migratory ? Do many arrive from the north in the beginning of winter and return thither in March ?
8th. Is there ever any influx of golden plovers into the district ?
I have carefully perused the many excellent 'Lists of Birds' which have appeared in this magazine with reference to the subject of migra- tion, but I have not found much information of the kind. However, Mr. Briggs, Melbourne, Derbyshire (Zool. 657), has accurately pointed out the annual increase of the song-thrushes in November, and their departure in spring, but the Rev. G. Gordon (Zool. 506), states that this bird is a permanent resident in Morayshire, and according to Professor Macgillivray, they brave the severity of a Hebridean win- ter, haunting the shores, and feeding on Turbo littoreus and Trochus conuloides : they are migratory in Upper Lanarkshire, and from the same author I learn that the lapT.ng is also a permanent resident in the same stormy regions. I ought to have stated that Motacilla Boarula, though found here during winter, is by no means so abun- dant as at other seasons, there is a marked decrease in October, and an influx in March or April after the pied species appear. Mr. Briggs has a note on the partial migration of the skylark and pipit (Zool. 657), and I feel assured that this gentleman, whose polite attention to the inquiries of Mr. Jerdon regarding the song-thrush, has enabled me to give additional interest to this paper, will in like manner favour his fellow labourers with such notes on the subject under discussion as his journal afibrds.
Whittingham, Jan. 3rd, 1846.
Remarks on a Tortoise. — Like White of Selhorne, I too have my old tortoise, which has been an inmate of my garden upwards of thirteen years, and this day, March 4th, I find it breaking ground. One not so long resident was observed to have its head above ground a week since, or about the 26th of February ; I see on re- ferring to my notes that this is earlier than usual. The " box tortoise " from New York, on one occasion, came out the 1st of March, but a frost setting in killed it. The one now alluded to is Testudo Graeca, which seldom leaves its retreat before the middle of April, it then refuses food for some time ; a crushed snail, however, it can rarely re- sist. I think I have ascertained its yearly growth, as on its first appearance (if watched) it will be seen that a fresh line of bright yellow has been added to the shell at the junction of the marginal scales with those of the back, this seldom exceeds one- sixteenth of an inch. For a certain period this may indicate its age, by counting the striae or furrows ; but in very old specimens, the early markings become obliterated, and like old cows, whose rings on the horns are worn out, they also get out of mark. — W.F.L. Ross; Topsham, Devon.
