484 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



shot in the Tees near Stockton, in March 1853, was found 

 part of a gold ear-ring. 



The usual name used by coast shooters is Sawbill or Jack- 

 saw, and Dun Diver is a term applied to the immature birds ; 

 it is known to the old shooters on the river Hull, in Holderness, 

 as Horner ; Sparling Fowl (Fox's " Synopsis," p. 95), is a 

 name used by old writers, though I have heard this given by 

 river Tees shooters to the Red-throated Diver. 



RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 



Mergus serrator (Z.). 



Winter visitant, not common. Occasionally occurs on inland 

 waters. 



The first Yorkshire reference to the Red-breasted Merganser 

 is, apparently, that in Allis's Report (1844), thus : 



Mergus serrator. Red-breasted Merganser This bird is rare 

 about Hebden Bridge ; it is shot near Doncaster in hard winters, one 

 specimen in 1837 ; it is met with about Huddersfield ; rare near Leeds, 

 one was shot at Swillington, January 24th, 1838, in the mature male 

 plumage ; it is rare about York, but I have frequently seen specimens of 

 the female and immature male. A. Strickland has only met with it in 

 the mature plumage in the winter of 1830, when several were procured. 



In the middle of the past century the Red-breasted 

 Merganser was, as I am informed by George Mussell, the 

 Middlesbrough taxidermist, frequently found in winter 

 and spring in the Tees estuary ; it is now classed, on the 

 coast generally, as an uncommon winter visitant, occurring 

 singly or in small parties of three or four, being more frequently 

 observed in severe weather than in mild seasons. The earliest 

 date for its appearance, of which I have note, is 22nd 

 September 1903, when one was obtained at the Teesmouth. 

 It has been reported in spring as late as 4th May, off Flam- 

 borough Head, while a party of five remained in the Tees 

 Bay until nth May in 1898. 



It is recorded from most of the coast stations, and is more 



