10 
over aquatic plants. Of the Plovers, we have in the Museum 
specimens of the Lapwing, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, and 
Oyster Catcher ; the Ringed Plover is not mentioned in Terry’s 
catalogue. 
The Lapwing, Crested Lapwing, Crested Plover, or Peewit as 
it is variously called, is found in abundance on Lansdown, where 
it breeds in the spring. 
The Golden Plover is an occasional winter visitor ; there is a 
change in plumage between winter and summer. The specimen 
in the Museum was taken at Combe Hay in the winter of 1881. 
The Ringed Plover is a great frequenter of the sea shore, and 
is not so common inland ; numbers of them congregate on the 
mud foreshores at Weston-super-Mare and Burnham. The bird 
is conspicuous for a distinct black and white band around its 
neck. The specimens in the Museum come from Warleigh, 
through the kindness of H. D. Skrine, Esq. 
The Oyster Catcher is still more of a salt water bird, and the 
specimen in the Museum comes from Weston-super-Mare. 
The Heron should be seen on our river more frequently than it 
is considering there are heronries at Bowood, Longleat, Fonthill, 
and several other places in Wiltshire, and at Brockley Woods, 
in Somerset. 
The Bittern, although mentioned by Terry as having been shot 
on Lansdown in 1857, seems becoming one of the rarer birds. 
One was killed at Bradford-on-Avon in 1875, another near Frome 
in 1883, and one near Trowbridge in 1887 ; there is no specimen 
in the Museum. 
The Common Curlew, although abundant on the mud flats of 
the Somerset coast, is only occasionally seen on our downs. The 
specimen in the Museum is from Weston-super-Mare. 
The Common Sandpiper is a regular summer visitor to our 
streams, and occasionally found on our downs; it is a very active 
and elegant bird, able both to swim and to dive. The pair in the 
Museum were shot at Bathampton. 
