2 



ever bred in England, or ever will Whimbrel, Spotted Red- 

 shank, Greenshank, Common Godwit, Grey Plover, Knot, Purple 

 Sandpiper, Little Stint, Pigmy Curlew, Temminck's Sandpiper, 

 Green Sandpiper, Sanderling, Turnstone, Solitary Snipe, Jack 

 Snipe. All these are common as species, and very widely dis- 

 tributed ; and I will fearlessly, without hesitation, say that any 

 quantity that may be killed here of these at any season will not 

 lessen their number, nor will protection increase it. The num- 

 bers of each appearing annually vary from other circumstances, 

 such as prevaling winds and the weather. Many of these species 

 only keep on the sea-shore, where they are often quite unap- 

 proachable. By making a close time for these, you prevent 

 some of the species being ever procured ; and under these cir- 

 cumstances, really of what use are they ? We might as well be 

 without them altogether. There are many things about birds 

 to be found out yet, and I think we can scarcely afford to be 

 without the means of obtaining further information, which we 

 can only get from the examination of recently -killed birds at all 

 seasons. Which of us can tell why the Dunlin gets a black 

 breast in summer, and the nearly allied Little Stint does not ? 

 why the Knot gets a red breast, and the Sanderling remains with 

 a white one ? why the Grey Phalarope gets red nearly all over 

 in summer, and the Red-necked Phalarope remains with a white 

 breast ? At present the most learned of us cannot explain these 

 matters. 



So far as the various sorts of ducks are concerned, those which 

 sometimes remain at particular places to breed, such as the 

 Shoveller, Garganey, Pochard, and Tufted Duck will continue to 

 do so, if preserved by the owners of such places ; and it may be 

 remarked that, when once they arrive where they intend to breed, 

 they seldom ever stray far away, and as almost every one knows, 

 for several weeks in summer the old birds are totally unable to 

 fly ; but even these species are wanderers, and we have no means 

 of knowing whether the few, comparatively speaking, bred at 

 such places, are not the very first to migrate southwards, so soon 

 as ever they can fly well. Certainly the Garganey does, as no 

 birds are ever procured after very early autumn ; and I think the 



