230 BRITISH BIRDS. 



same lake in co. Fermanagh, he saw two flocks of young birds, 

 one of about twenty and the other of forty individuals, each 

 attended by a single old bird. The flocks seemed to increase 

 in size until, at the end of September and the first few days 

 of October, " packs " of from twenty-five to three hundred 

 birds were seen, and it was ascertained that in the case of 

 two of the smaller flocks at all events, there was only one 

 old bird in each. By October 11th the majority could fly 

 well and had left the lake. 



Guillemot, Little Auk and Puffin Inland. — Mr. 0. G. 

 Pike writes us that on November 22nd, 1911, a living Guille- 

 mot {Uria troile) was picked up in a lane in Winchmore Hill, 

 Middlesex. It was in an exhausted condition, and died soon 

 after capture. Mr. F. Boyes records in the Field (2. XII. 1911, 

 p. 1234) that a Little Auk [Mergulus alle) was picked up on 

 November 24th, 1911, twenty miles from the sea on the wolds 

 near Beverley (Yorks). Colonel J. H. Austen also records 

 {I.e.) that his dog caught a Puffin {Fratercida arctica) in the 

 New Forest (Hants.) on November 24th, 1911. 



Black-necked Grebe in Worcestershire. — A wounded 

 Podicipes nigricoUis, a female, was caught on October 9th, 

 1911, in the canal at Stoke near Droitwich, and is recorded 

 by Mr. T. Ground {ZooL, 1911, p. 434), who remarks that its 

 stomach contained a number of its own breast-feathers. 

 a few small pebbles, two or three univalve shells, a quantity 

 of remains of beetles, and a red ant. 



Waders in East Renfrew. — Mr. J. Robertson contributes 

 some very interesting notes to the Glasgow Naturalist (Vol. 

 IV., pp. 7-10) on Waders observed in the autumn of 1911 

 at Balgray Dam, an inland water in East Renfrew. A shortage 

 of water caused much of the bottom of the Dam to be exjDosed, 

 and thus an attractive feeding-ground for passing Waders was 

 formed, and an excej^tional number appeared to have visited it. 

 Mr. Robertson thinks that these biids were crossing from 

 the Forih to the Clyde. Among the birds seen, the following 

 are worthy of special notice: — 



Curlew-Sandpiper [T. suharquata). — A good many seen 

 between August 26th and September 30th, the greatest number 

 being a flock of twenty. 



Knot {T. canutus). — Flocks of twenty-four and ten seen 

 between August 17th and SejDtember 24th. 



Ruff {M. pugnax). — Several between August 17th and 

 October 8th. 



