BIRDS OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 263 



creatures, whether flying or standing on one leg, watohing for an unwary 

 fish, but still very fine, handsome birds withal, especially a full-grown, ten- 

 year-old bird, for as they grow older they get lighter in colour, and the crest 

 and neck feathers grow longer. They are constantly to be seen flying up 

 the valleys, and only the other day one flew up our stream not a hundred 

 yards up in the air. This bird was shot at Chalford, and is probably 

 three or four years old. At Aust Cliff last year I saw several Curlews on 

 the mud. 



The exceedingly rare bird the Spoonbill, now almost extinct in our 

 islands, has been seen in the county, though I don't know where. The 

 Spotted Kedshank, Bartram's Sandpiper, and the Avocet, have also been 

 found. Bartram's Sandpiper was shot on the banks of the Wye some 

 time ago, while the Avocet or Cobbler's Awl (so-called from the curious 

 shape of its bill) used at one time to frequent tbe Severn, whose muddy 

 banks are well suited to its habits. It is now, as are also the other two, 

 very rare indeed, scarcely a single specimen of either having been found 

 for years. The Common Sandpiper, Woodcock, Great Snipe, Common 

 Snipe, Jack Snipe, and Temminck's Stint, have all been seen in this 

 district. A Woodcock's nest with four eggs was found by a keeper of a 

 neighbouring wood about the latter end of March of this year. I mention 

 this as it is a rare occurrence. Temminck's Stint, another very rare 

 bird, was shot at the Dark Mill at the Bourne last year, and is now in 

 my possession. There is one very noteworthy feature about the members 

 of this family ; on the end of their long bills there is a very tender, sensi- 

 tive membrane. When wading on the mud in search of food they push 

 their bill down into the mud, and by the aid of this membrane are 

 enabled to discover the worms, small shell-fish, insects, and larv© on 

 which they subsist. 



The " scrape, scrape " of the Landrail is heard from many a corn and 

 grass field. This year a pair nested twice in our grass, which was up for 

 mowing. I don't know how or when the male bird rests, but I counted 

 that their peculiar scraping call was repeated from 100 to 112 times per 

 minute, and this, without stopping, for hours together. Much as I liked 

 him for coming so near to me, I really should have liked him much better 

 had he not kept me awake on several occasions by his unceasing rattle. 

 I did not notice, what many others have, the ventriloquial powers of this 

 bird, though I succeeded in calling both the birds within a couple of yards 

 of me by drawing a nail over a horse comb, and so imitating the call of 

 the male bird. The call, when heard quite close to, is accompanied with a 

 peculiar drumming sound. The Water-rail is sometimes to be seen. 

 Last winter I saw three on our own premises, and at one time it used to 

 nest with us. The Moorhen is familiar to most of us, for there is scarcely 

 a pond anywhere without its pair or two of these birds. The Coot also 

 is seen on larger ponds, and those more remote from civilisation. Both 

 these birds fly about a good deal at night, changing their feeding grounds, 

 and a Coot was once brought to me which had dashed itself against a 

 window in the Brimscombe Wesleyan Chapel, breaking not only the glass 

 but its own neck and falling inside. I cannot say why it was not able 



