of St. Leonards. I found it feeding by a large pool in the beach on the west side of Rye Harbour. Its cry was a shrill kind of twitter. Its flight resembled the Common Sandpiper for the first few yards, when it rose for a considerable height, and then plunged suddenly head first to the ground. It was exhibited by Dr. Hartert to the members of the British Ornithologists' Club at their meeting on Nov. 21st. This is, I believe, the first British record, and also, I believe, the first European one. Its length was 6-61⁄4 in.; length of wing, 5 in.; spread of wing about 66⁄8 in.; tarsus, 7⁄8 in.; hind toe, 2⁄8 in.; bill in length, 1 in., narrow, straight, and tapering; toes slightly webbed at joint of foot; bill and legs jet-black. The specimen is now in my collection.—Michael John Nicoll (10, Charles Road, St. Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex).
INSECTA.
Vanessa polychloros in December.—On Dec. 30th last I had the unexpected pleasure to obtain a large Tortoiseshell Butterfly (V. polychloros), which appeared fluttering against the window. It is a perfect specimen, and is now in my cabinet.—C.S. Buxton (Fox Warren, Cobham, Surrey).
[Of course this was a hibernating specimen allured to its destruction by the mildness of the present season. We have seen and heard of some other species on the Surrey hills during the same month.—Ed.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The Birds of Yorkshire.—Naturalists and others interested in the subject may be pleased to learn that arrangements have been made for the speedy resumption of the publication of Mr. W. Eagle Clarke's excellent work on the 'Birds of Yorkshire,' which has been partly published in the 'Transactions' of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, and the continuation of which was interrupted by Mr. Clarke's leaving Yorkshire to settle in Edinburgh. Mr. Clarke and the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union have now secured the services of Mr. Thomas H. Nelson, of Redcar, to continue and complete the task. Mr. Nelson has in his possession the voluminous mass of original and unpublished observations which Mr. Clarke had at his command when writing the instalments which are already in print, and which includes notes, lists, and observations from many of the naturalists who have studied and observed Yorkshire birds. In addition to this is the whole of the information amassed by the late Mr. John Cordeaux relating to the birds of the Humber district, and also the large number of notes which Mr. W. Denison Roebuck has extracted from the very voluminous literature on the subject, and Mr. Nelson's own accumulated series of notes on the birds of Cleveland and other districts, the whole forming an ample mass of material for the purpose. Mr. Nelson will also
