640 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



middle or third week of September ; their numbers vary in 

 different years, in some seasons being few, whilst in others 

 they are amongst the most abundant of the waders found 

 in the Humber and Tees estuaries, where immense assemblies 

 are met with, and, being unsuspicious of danger and very 

 easily " called," their ranks are speedily decimated by the 

 shore shooters. I have heard the old professional wildfowlers 

 of the Tees relate wonderful stories of the bags they made in 

 years gone by, when the " slems " were tenanted by hundreds 

 of birds where now few are seen. On one occasion at the end 

 of August two fishermen killed upwards of one hundred 

 Godwits and Knots with old single-barrelled muzzle-loaders ; 

 and when shooting at the Teesmouth I have frequently 

 walked within a few yards' distance of flocks busily feeding 

 and quite oblivious of danger. Seasons of great plenty 

 were September 1876 ; 1881 ; September 1887 ; 1890 ; 1892 ; 

 and in September 1895 there occurred one of the greatest 

 " rushes " I ever witnessed. On the 7th an immense flock, 

 consisting of fully four hundred birds, alighted on the sandb 

 in front of Redcar, being soon driven off by boys throwing 

 stones at them ; they then fled towards the Teesmouth, 

 where they allowed a gunner to walk within easy shot, and 

 not until he had fired the third time did they take alarm and 

 fly out of sight. On the same day I saw other flights at the 

 Tees estuary, where large numbers were bagged by various 

 shore shooters. 



As autumn advances the Godwit consorts with Curlew 

 and Grey Plover, becoming unapproachable, so that although 

 huge parties are to be seen at high spring tides in the estuaries, 

 very few are shot. In severe winters the species appears 

 more in evidence than in mild seasons, and it seems probable 

 that there may be a late migration of birds from more northerly 

 or Continental resorts. On I2th February 1895, when a 

 long continuance of frost and snow rendered the Teesmouth 

 like an Arctic scene, large congregations of Godwits were notice- 

 able, those which were procured being all in the grey plumage, 

 with plain ash-coloured tails ; again from i8th to 25th March 

 1899, during severe gales and snowstorms, I noticed con- 



