Note 109 — LETTERS TO MERRETT.

Mr. Stevenson, whom very little relating to Norfolk Ornithology escaped, was well acquainted with Sir Thomas Browne's works, yet has in his "Birds of Norfolk" unaccountably overlooked this passage, and remarks that Browne does not appear to have noticed this species; he however not only refers to it as above, but evidently describes it from his personal observation. It is a very uncertain winter visitor to this county, but on rare occasions makes its appearance in considerable flocks. A remarkable instance of this occurred in the winter of 1866-7, when Mr. Stevenson, as the result of the examination of a very large series, contributed an exhaustive paper on the plumage of this handsome bird to the "Transactions of the Norf. and Nor. Nat. Soc.," iii., pp. 326-344.