ORNITHOLOGICAL REPORT FOR NORFOLK. 17 



second Woodcock flew into the same forge where one was taken 

 on Oct. 17th, both of them having chosen exactly the same line, 

 and entered by the same doorway, which, it is true, is wide. For 

 two to have taken exactly the same line of flight seems rather 

 singular, but the wind was in both cases the same. Another 

 flew into the railway station. They were all three caught, and 

 the two in the forge were taken alive to Mr. Barclay, who gave 

 me one of them, but I was not very successful with it. On the 

 same day continuous flocks of Fieldfares were seen by Mr. Caton 

 Haigh arriving in North Lincolnshire, their " passage " lasting 

 from daylight until the afternoon, but it probably began long 

 before daybreak. 



13th. — Bittern ** booming " at Catfield, and quantities of 

 Jackdaws arriving about this date (Bird). The Bittern's "boom- 

 ing " is generally considered to be a spring cry. 



14th. — E.N.E. Three Martins at Keswick, one scarcely full- 

 grown. November Martins are of such annual occurrence as to 

 excite but little comment ; probably it is in consequence of so 

 many of their earlier nests being usurped by Sparrows, which 

 make their broods very late. 



19th. — E., 6. Female Eider-Duck picked up in a meadow 

 near Downham Market (W. Clarke), no doubt carried inland by 

 the high wind. 



23rd. — Swallows at Kaveningham (Gray). 



December. 



9th. — Shoveler near Yarmouth (Dye), 



13th. — Pied Wagtail at Keswick. 



15th. — W. A Dartford Warbler, which has always been a 

 rare bird in Norfolk, on the sea-bank at Wells (A. Napier). 



19th. — S.S.W., 4. An arrival last night apparently of Wood- 

 cocks, Snipe, and Jack-Snipe. A few days afterwards (d.u.) 

 forty-two Woodcocks were killed at Haverland, the best bag of 

 the season. It is marvellous how their numbers keep up, for 

 there is no bird in Europe so persecuted ; from two thousand to 

 four thousand are usually killed in Norfolk every year. There is 

 an idea that when they arrive they are very thin, but as a matter 

 of fact the reverse is generally the case. 



21st. — Grey Shrike seen at Swaffham (W. Clarke). 



