OBNITHOLOGICAL REPORT FOB NORFOLK. 13 



September. (Prevailing wind W. and N.) 



2nd. — N.W. to W., 2. A young Gannet,t a bird of about ten 

 weeks old, caught in a eabbage-field at Weasenham, fifteen miles 

 from the sea (Buxton). I do not remember such a young one 

 being picked up in Norfolk, or anywhere inland before. 



4th. — S.W., 1. Two Great Crested Grebes, one of them with 

 a full crest, seen in Blakeney estuary by Mr. Arnold. [Barred 

 Warbler in Lincolnshire, C. Haigh.] 



6th.— S.S.E., 2. Two Gannets off Blakeney " bar " (Arnold). 

 Books coming inland (Bird). 



13th. — S.S.W., 1. From an early hour in the morning con- 

 tinuous flocks of House-Martins were passing Sidestrand and 

 Overstrand under the shelter of the cliffs, and all going W.N.W. 

 This no doubt was a direction taken in order to fly against the 

 wind, which was very light, and it is to be presumed there was a 

 return journey eventually. In five minutes (not consecutive 

 ones) the Martins which passed numbered thirty-two, thirty- 

 seven, sixteen, seventy-three, forty-eight, which would be at the 

 rate of nearly two thousand five hundred an hour. At what 

 o'clock this movement commenced I am not sure, but I was on 

 the cliff at 8 a.m. The " passage " continued until 11.30 a.m., 

 after which it slackened, and at 12.30 had ceased, but I imagine 

 that not less than fifteen thousand Martins had passed ; and the 

 Martin is no longer a very common species in East Anglia. The 

 following morning (wind N.) I looked as early as 6 a.m. to see if 

 there were any more, and again at 7, 8, 9, and 10 a.m. ; but not 

 a Martin was to be seen ; they had all passed, and for five or six 

 days afterwards there were only straggling flocks at rare intervals, 

 while I was on the watch, which was often. Possibly these House- 

 Martins, which were following our Norfolk coast-line, were the 

 same which three days afterwards (Sept. 16th) were seen by 

 Mr. W. Gyngell passing south along the Yorkshire coast in 

 flocks (Zool. 1906, p. 31). They were going in his direction 

 when they passed Overstrand. 



19th.— N.W., 1. A Land-Eail on the shore (E. Arnold). 



20th.— N.W., 3. Influx of Wheatears ; a Red-breasted Fly- 

 catcher identified near the sea by Mr. E. Arnold, who had a good 

 view of it. This is the sixth for Norfolk. In Heligoland it 



