110 BRITISH BIRDS. 



shire) noticed three strange birds which were very noisy and 

 not particularly shy. One of these he shot and forwarded to 

 the office of the Birmingham Daily Mail for Mr. Coburn to 

 name. Subsequently the bird was purchased by Mr. Coburn, 

 who was much surprised to find that " such an extraordinary 

 rarity had been shot within about ten miles of the city of 

 Birmingham." Mr. Coburn further states that he purposely 

 delayed publishing his notes on the bird until a sufficient time 

 had elapsed for the survivors to get safely out of the country ! 

 A doubtfully humane and certainly not scientific reason. 

 Mr. Coburn thinks that the birds made a sort of grand tour, 

 coming to England via Greenland and Iceland, looking in at 

 Birmingham en route, and then, after making their way to 

 the Land's End, taking passage across the Atlantic home again ! 

 Mr. Coburn points out also that he had in 1904 studied this 

 species in central British Columbia, where he procured many 

 specimens. Here we may perhaps be allowed to protest 

 against this method of recording the presence of rare birds. 

 Surely it would have been possible for Mr. Coburn to have 

 submitted the specimen in the flesh to some qualified and dis- 

 interested ornithologist, avIio would be able to confirm his 

 identification, even if he were unwilling to exhibit the specimen 

 at one of the B.O.C. meetings, a usual procedure in the case 

 of the capture of a rare species.] 



Green Sandpiper {T. ochropus). — A frequent visitor to 

 Norton Pool (G. H. Clarke) and other parts of the district 

 (F. Coburn). 



[Spotted Redshank {T. fuscus). — Seen once in Warwick- 

 shire and once in Worcestershire, but no dates given (F. 

 Coburn). This species is not recorded by R. F. Tomes.] 



Greenshank {T. canescens). — A very frequent visitor, 

 especially to Norton Pool ; also recorded from Bloxwich and 

 Stafford. Only once seen at Earlswood (Warwick). 



Curlew {Numenius arquata). — Common and regular visitor 

 to Norton Pool ; also to Barnt Green (Worcester), and less so 

 to Earlswood (Warwick). 



Whimbrel {N. phceopus). — Common on migration at Norton 

 Pool (G. H. Clarke) ; also frequent at Barnt Green (Worcester) 

 and Earlswood (Warwick). Not recorded by R. F. Tomes for 

 Warwick. 



Black Tern {Hydrochelidon nigra).— One of the commonest 

 of the Terns at Norton Pool, sometimes in great numbers ; 

 and also common at Earlswood (Warwick) and Barnt Green 

 (Worcester). Most of the spring visitors are adult, while the 



