114 Notes on Some Birds. 



the dyke that carries the railway and road to the mainland. The 

 fore shore was like our English saltings, and the river bed was 

 mud. Upon this mud Redshanks, Curlew, Black-headed Gulls, 

 and Terns were walking and feeding. I also saw a small lot 

 of duck, but too far off to identify. I was told that there is 

 good wild-fowl shooting- here in the winter. On the dyke a 

 pair of Quail were calling, and, on looking for these I flushed a 

 pair of Red-legged Partridges. On our return we passed a 

 small pond on the inner side of the sea-wall on which two 

 Redshanks and an Avocet were feeding. The latter bird, which 

 was the only one 1 saw in Holland, passed within easy gunshot 

 a*^ it made its way out to sea. The Redshanks were joined by 

 their mates, and a noisy chorus they kept up. I think th;it 

 they both had nests in the long grass around the ])ond, and I 

 have no doubt that I could have found them if I had had time. 

 A Heron, feeding in a ditch, was the only other bird of interest 

 noticed on this trip. 



J line ] 2th : Another long walk through the woods. The 

 hrst new bird noted was a Little Owl, winch was not at all wild. 

 A much rarer bird, of which I got a glimpse in song, was a 

 Elue-Throat, and later on I saw for a few moments a pair of 

 Colden Orioles. They flew into the thick woods, and I was 

 unable to follow their flight. A visit to the Nightingale's nest 

 showed that the young had flown, but from the noise the old 

 birds were making in a near-by thicket I don't think they had 

 gone far. When searching for another of these bird's nests, 

 later in the day, I flushed a wild duck from a nest of seven eggs, 

 but failed to find that of the Nightingale's. Saw a Redstart 

 cock feeding a strong young one. These are common birds 

 in the woods. 



JiDic i^lt: Last visit to the links. The young Larks 

 had left the nest. The usual birds were seen, also a single 

 Kestrel. Birds of prey are scarce on the Island, at any rate 

 at this time of year, but the Magpies. Jays, Jackdaws, and 

 Crows, keep the smaller birds from increasing too fast, I expect. 

 Strange to say, in spite of the numerous ditches, I never saw a 

 Coot, Moorhen, or Dabchick in Walcheren. Neither did I see 

 the English Hedge Sparrow. 



June 14th : By rail to Amsterdam, through typical Dutch 

 country. Saw a good many Duck, in pairs and singles, also 



