142 AN EAST COAST NATURALIST 



probably lost their lives in. striking the parish church 

 steeple, and fallen on the leads at its base, just above 

 the clock. The bones beneath the feathers were in 

 both cases bare, and in one, indeed, a few larval 

 cases remained. The blowflies must have caught the 

 scent of the dead birds when atmospheric depression 

 brought it earthwards, although I am not certain 

 that these dipterous insects do not occasionally fly at 

 as great an elevation. That scent will draw insects 

 to great distances is evidenced by the finding of the 

 carcass of a porpoise on Aldeburgh beach, four miles 

 from any habitation, yet simply alive with the 

 larvae of the green blowfly. 



CURIOUS MANCEUVRES 



One of the oddest performances I ever saw on 

 Breydon took place on the early morning of 17th 

 August 1899. Hearing a number of Black-headed 

 Gulls on the flat opposite my houseboat, I cautiously 

 looked out to see the scarcely bare flat covered with 

 these birds, all screaming in turn as if the bright 

 morning were a real delight to them ; and what was 

 odd enough, they literally danced all over the place, 

 each bird lifting its feet and pattering on the mud, 



