NOTES: ON THE 
BIRDS: OF A. BALLAST PI 
BY 
Tue Rev. F. L. Buatawayt, M.A., M.B.O.U. 
Within a mile of the Lincoln Stonebow, and separated from 
the Fossdyke by a broad Railway Embankment, lies a sheet of 
water, generally known as the Ballast Pit. In shape it is an 
obtuse angled triangle, with the base perhaps half a mile long, 
and the corners are choked up with reeds, bulirushes and other 
aquatic vegetation. ‘There isa considerable depth of water in 
some parts, while in others it is so shallow that in a dry Summer 7 
extensive banks of muddy sand make their appearance, even in 
the centre of the lake. ‘This sheet of water, well known in 
Winter to skaters, and also to a certain extent to fishermen and 
wild-fowlers, is the haunt of many interesting birds, which vary 
in numbers and species according to the season, and so is well 
worth the attention of local ornithologists. “Though the lake 
itself is probably not older than the railway embankment, it lies 
in a locality where the fens at one time crept up to the city of 
Lincoln, and is also not far from the site of the Skellingthorpe 
Duck-decoy, which has not, I believe, been used for the past 60° 
years. Owing therefore to its position, it offers a modern view of 
the relics of the old fen fauna, as birds are well known to be very 
conservative in their habits and return to ancestral haunts as 
