344 Mr. A. C. Chapman on the 



were actually nesting. A few pairs of Golden Plovers 

 {Charadrius pluvialis) were breeding on some dry ground 

 adjoining the edge of the marshes, and we frequently ob- 

 served a large Goose, sometimes two together, flying about 

 in the distance. 



On the lagoons, where the previous year's reed-stems shot 

 up about a foot above the level of the water, there being a 

 uniform level at which the winter's ice cuts off the stems, we 

 found several nests, which probably belonged to the Great 

 Crested Grebe {Podiceps cristatas), but even though we 

 found five more or less hard-set eggs in a nest, the eggs 

 themselves being quite warm, we never could see the bird ; 

 of course she had glided off at our approach and was pro- 

 bably watching us within a few yards' distance, with her beak 

 only raised above the water-level. The nests were built of 

 reeds, lined with leaves of water-lilies, and floating in 6 or 

 8 feet of water, and when completed formed bulky floating 

 structures, anchored to some of the dead reeds aforesaid ; but 

 it is extraordinary how difficult they are to see until one ap- 

 proaches within a few yards of the site. At 20 yards' distance 

 from a nest placed amongst reeds 1 foot high, and each reed 

 about 1 foot apart, a nest is invisible to a man standing up in a 

 punt ! It is somewhat singular that although one nest con- 

 tained hard-set eggs on May 12th, others on the same date 

 were still only in process of building. 



A few Coots {Fulica atra) frequented these lagoons, though 

 we never saw or heard their near ally, the Waterhen. Sedge- 

 Warblers {Acrocephalus phragmitis) penetrated into the very 

 centre of the marshes, where their hissing note could generally 

 be heard; h\\i i\ieGreixi^Q;eA.-W axhlev {Acrocephalus tu7'doides) 

 was not observed — perhaps it was waiting for a further 

 reed-growth to take place before joining its smaller congener. 

 Wagtails were very numerously distributed, but they had 

 not nested up to May 20th. At the time of our visit we had 

 no doubt that all these were our Yellow Wagtail [Mota- 

 cilia rail), but since consulting the works of Yarrell and 

 Saunders a doubt has arisen in our minds ; still we never 

 observed any grey head or white eye-streak, and I think if 



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