Welsh Journals

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ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FOR 1902 AND 1903. By T. W. PROGER AND D. R. PATERSON. Red-footed Falcon. Falco vespertinus. A specimen was shot on June 1st, 1903, by the keeper at St. Fagans near the pheasant coops. It was a male in full plumage. Another bird, probably the female, was observed near the same place shortly afterwards. This species is sometimes misnamed the Orange- legged Hobby, though it is more nearly akin to the Kestrel. According to Howard Saunders, it is merely a summer-visitor to Europe. Its appearance in the British Isles was first noticed in 1830, and subsequently about thirty specimens have been obtained. It has occurred in Pembrokeshire and Denbigh- shire. Most of the authenticated occurrences have been in spring or summer, with a few in autumn, and exceptional instances in the winter months. The Red-footed Falcon breeds in Silesia and in the Danubian provinces and Hungary; westward it is only a straggler. Its food consists chiefly of insects and of lizards and field-mice. Its flight resembles that of a Kestrel, and it usually seeks its prey in the evening. Great Bustard. Otis tarda. A perfect specimen of this rare bird was shot December 2oth, 1902, by a farmer near Pontardawe, who thought it was a wild goose. This bird is now preserved and in the possession of Mr. Arthur Gilbertson, Glanrhyd, Pontardawe. It was exhibited for a short time in the Welsh Museum, Cardiff. This fine species formerly bred in this country, and formed a striking object in the landscape but the enclosure of waste land and the increase in the popula- tion led to its gradual passing away. The eggs were last taken