383 



June 4th. One male and three females killed at 

 Waxham, Norfolk. Just twelve days from the appear- 

 ance of the first specimen, no others apparently having 

 been seen in the meantime, a small flock of eight or 

 nine birds were found by the Rev. Mr. Wheeler and Mr. 

 Gibbs, of Waxham, feeding in a grass field near that 

 village, which is situated on the coast, about fourteen 

 miles from Yarmouth. Four birds were shot, of which 

 two females were presented to the Norwich museum 

 (No. 176*) by Mr. Wheeler. These birds, singularly 

 enough, were the only females out of all that I examined 

 which exhibited any indication of a band across the 

 breast as in the males. In one it was very distinct ; in 

 the other, visible on each side close to the wings, 

 and indistinctly traceable across the chest. This may 

 probably denote the fully adult plumage of the female, 

 as the ovaries in each case were largely developed, some 

 eggs being about the size of a common hemp seed. 



June 5th and 6th. Two males and one female killed 

 at Walberswick, near Southwold, Suffolk. The first of 

 these birds (female), as I learned from Mr. Spalding, of 

 Westleton, was shot from a small flock by a labouring 

 man on the shingle close by the sea. A male, winged 

 at the same time, was afterwards caught ; and a third 

 was secured by the gamekeeper to Sir J. Blois. Mr. 

 Spalding also adds, "I took my gun and had a walk 

 over the extensive heath of Walberswick, when I saw a 

 covey of about eighteen birds. They flew exactly like 

 golden plover, but I had no chance of a shot at them ; 

 another parcel contained seven, and another three 

 birds." 



June 6th. A male taken alive at Elveden, near 

 Thetford, Suffolk. Of the capture of this bird, Mr. 

 Alfred Newton has sent me the following notes. It is 

 one of the few instances in which these birds appeared 

 so far inland, in either Norfolk or Suffolk, Elveden being 



