FEBRUARY. 



29 



compatible with safety the Skylark is neither seen nor heard. Very 

 possibly, however, all creatures of the air take alarm at a balloon, and 

 naturally give it a wide berth. 



It is very charming at this time of the year to be in the 

 neighbourhood of the sea and watch the Gulls on the green pasture 

 land and the rich brown fallows. Their delicate silvers and greys, 

 blacks and whites, are beautifully thrown off against the green and 

 brown background, and one cannot fail to be struck by their 

 exquisite beauty, for by the sea the delicate shades are somewhat 

 neutralised and lost. 



Very wet to-day, but Skylark singing joyously. I have noticed many 

 times that the Lark soars and sings in wet weather, and will leave off 

 temporarily on bright, sunny days. How is this to be explained? 



20th. Mr. Frohawk records in "The Zoologist" the capture of 

 a Little Gull on the Thames at Southend in December last, and a 

 correspondent of "The Field" states that whilst out shooting lately 

 he observed a Peacock Butterfly when four inches of snow was on 

 the ground! This beautiful Butterfly hibernates very often. 



A Grey Headed Wagtail was seen in Suffolk recently, and several 

 Goosanders have been shot, one having a fair-sized Jack in his gullet. 



21st. I saw in a poulterer's shop in London to-day the following 

 birds: Golden Plover, Lapwing, Skylark, Heron, Ptarmigan, Ring 

 Dove, Wild Duck, and Widgeon. 



A correspondent writing to a 

 London paper remarks that he 

 had over 40 Starlings, 5 Goldfinches, 

 2 Thrushes, 1 Blackbird, 3 Crows, and 

 several Sparrows and Tits, all waiting 

 in a small tree in the evident hope 

 of being fed! What an interesting 

 feathered gathering. 



A writer in the "Spectator" gives 

 the following interesting informa- 

 tion: "At the present moment the 

 Black Throated Divers, or 'Sprat GOLDEN PLOVER. 



Loons,' are catching the Sprat Shoals 



of Norfolk; Great Northern Divers are harrying Flounders in the 

 Wash, Goosanders and Mergansers ('Sawyers' the fishermen call 

 them, from their saw-like teeth) are busy in the estuaries, having long 



