9 6 



TURNSTONE. (IMMATURE). 

 Case 119. 



A few young Turnstones occasionally make 

 their appearance as early as the beginning of 

 August ; they do not however show in any con- 

 siderable number till after the gales w r ith which we 

 are usually visited in September and October. On 

 their first arrival they are remarkably fearless. 



Two of the specimens in the case were shot 

 sitting at a pool of rain-water in company with a 

 Purple Sandpiper in the middle of the carriage- 

 drive along the South Denes at Yarmouth during a 

 gale of wind in November, 1872 ; the remainder 

 were killed earlier the same autumn on Breydon 

 mudflats. 



DIPPER. 

 Case 120. 



There appears to be a difference of opinion 

 among writers concerning the habits of these 

 singular birds ; some declaring that they are pre- 

 judicial to the spawn and fry of fish, while others 

 assert that they are not only perfectly harmless, but 

 of the greatest service to the rivers from constantly 

 feeding on various kinds of destructive beetles and 

 other insects. 



I believe that there is undoubted evidence 

 that they have been both seen and shot while in 

 possession of small fish ; but I am decidedly of 

 opinion that their presence on the waters is 

 beneficial rather than otherwise. 



They are to be found frequenting most of the 

 rivers and streams in the northern parts of the 

 Island, being perhaps more numerous in the rocky 

 burns of Perthshire than in any other county. 



During hard winters I have occasionally fallen 

 in with these birds on the sea coast, being I 

 suppose frozen out from their accustomed streams. 



