TING EEE, “NORLH OF KENT 55 
name) which are very apparent as one sees 
them feeding like their near black relatives 
amongst the droppings in the fields. We were 
told they nested here, and we would have 
been glad to have made a closer acquaintance 
with them, but our destination was further 
on. These birds are scarce, and certainly 
so in Kent hereabouts. Though found in 
many parts of the British Isles and chiefly 
near the sea in the north, they are, neverthe- 
less, locally distributed. Their length is 
about twenty inches. The tail, wings, head and 
throat are black, whilst the back (as before 
noted) and lower part of the neck, and wings, 
and under parts are all grey. So that their 
specific name of ‘Grey-backed’ is not com- 
prehensive enough to fully describe their 
plumage. The beak, toes, and legs are 
shiny black. They are almost always found 
near tidal rivers and the sea-shore. Those 
foundin the British Isles are partly migratory, 
some (like those we had seen) coming south- 
wards in the spring at the nesting time, to 
return north again in the autumn (October). 
