NOTES. 335 



immature male of the light-breasted form from the last 

 flock. 



Feb. 3rd. Wind N.E. by E. Very heavy gale, worse than 

 yesterday. Frost 13° last night. More snow. 10.45 a.m. 

 Skein of fifteen Brent hard pressed by weather and forced 

 back. They circled round high up twice, then attempted 

 to face the wind again and passed to the north. 10.50. St. 

 Mary's Island. Two shot from flock of ten-twelve. 10.55- 

 11.10. Several small parties of five to fifteen going north 

 passed close to the breakers. 11.45. Flock of fifteen. 

 11.55. Two passed over ; one shot by my brother, an adult 

 female of the light-breasted form. 12.10 p.m. Flock twelve- 

 fifteen. Storm abating and consequently the Geese keep 

 farther from land, passing close over the sea. Many hundreds 

 passed all the rest of day, out to sea. 



Feb. 4th. 9 a.m. Wind W. Foggy. Two Brent passing 

 south. 9.50. Flock going north close by shore. 



Feb. 5th. Twenty to twenty-five passing north. Mild and 

 foggy. Wind S.E. None of the flocks seen had more than 

 twenty -five birds in them. 



Brent have been exceedingly numerous this winter at Holy 

 Island, and shoulder-guns have probably done better than 

 ever known before. A friend of mine got six in two days' 

 shooting during the heavy south-easterly gale of January 

 16th and 17th. A notice in the Newcastle Daily Journal, 

 February 7th, states : " Brent Geese are here (Holy Island) 

 in large numbers, and are more easily captured than I have 

 knowTi for several years. There has been quite a harvest for 

 the local sportsmen." This has reference of course to the 

 punt-gunners. 



In the Shooting Times it is stated that it is some four winters 

 since there was even a fair show of Brent at Holy Island, 

 and the luck of shoulder-gunners this year is also mentioned, 

 one man having got as many as twenty in a few days. Thus 

 it appears that the Brent have been there in record numbers 

 this year. From the records I can obtain for my own district 

 it is about twenty-seven years since a migration in any numbers 

 was observed there : one of the years in which the abundance 

 of this species was noted at Holy Island by Mr. Abel Chapman. 



I am of opinion that migration does not take place close 

 u]3 this coast except under abnormal conditions. It is prob- 

 able that the birds pass north several miles out to eea, or 

 possibly when the weather is settled they make a line from 

 their quarters on the Continent and cross directly to Holy 

 Island (undoubtedly the destination of the flocks seen bj^ us). 



J. M. Charlton. 



