OBSERVED IN 18S0 AXD 1881. 2-11 



as an article of diet. It appears to have become scarcer and scarcer 

 as population has become more dense and the art of practical 

 agriculture has advanced. The reclamation of waste lands and the 

 drainage of fens and marshes have de])rived it of its congenial 

 haunts, and it is now but rarely nu't with in the home counties. 

 Tlie bittern is a voracious feeder ; it devours with apparent in- 

 diiference birds, fishes, or reptiles; and Yarrell* records several 

 instances in which a water-rat has been taken whole from its stomach. 



5. The Greenshank [Totamis Glottis). — A beautiful specimen of 

 the greenshank was obtained in the early part of 1880, near the 

 Colne, by Mr. A. Dyson, and is preserved in his collection. The 

 greenshank is a winter visitant to the British Isles. It nests in 

 Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and is generally met with 

 during a short period in autumn or early spring as it migrates 

 backwards and forwards from and to its northern home. It is 

 very similar in general appearance to the green sandpiper, speci- 

 mens of which were reported as having been shot in 1879 near the 

 river Beane, but is considei-ably larger. 



6. The Herring-Gull (Larus arffeiitatiis). — In February, 1881, 

 a young herring -gull was shot at Oak lands, near St. Albans. The 

 hcrriug-gidl is among the largest of the gulls, is a resident species, 

 and is abundant on the sea-coasts of the British Isles. It feeds, as 

 its name implies, on herrings and other surface-swimming fish. 

 It is easily tamed, and when pinioned is readily kept within the 

 precincts of a garden. 



7. The Widgeon {Mareca Penelope). — Two widgeon were shot 

 on the Colne, near Garston, by Mr. KofFe, early in 1880, and in 

 January, 1881, a flock of ten or eleven, one of which was shot, 

 was observed by Mr. Holland, near Otterspool. The widgeon is a 

 winter migrant, arriving diuing the month of October and generally 

 leaving in March. It nests very rarely in Britain, but, like many 

 of the ducks and waders, breeds freely within the Arctic circle. 

 " It must be considered," writes Mr. Seebohm,f " a paloearctic 

 duck, though its range extends eastward beyond Behriug's Straits 

 to the coast of Alaska." 



8. The Scaup-Duck {Fuligida Marila). — The Society is indebted 

 to Mr. Alfred F. Buxton, Easneye, near AVare, for information that 

 adds an additional duck to our register of Hertfordshire birds. On 

 the 22nd of January, 1881, a female scaup was shot by Mr. T. F. 

 Buxton, on the Ashe. "It rose from the river and was quite 

 alone." Like the preceding species, the scaup-duck visits the 

 British Isles only in the winter. It is a circumpolar bird, but 

 winters throughout temperate Europe and North Africa. During 

 its southern migration it is abundant in Holland and also on the 

 coast of Norfolk. 



The birds now mentioned increase the number of species at 

 present on our register to 126. 



* ' British Birds,' vol. ii, p. 478. 

 t ' Siberia in Europe,' p. 107. 



