SOME BIRD NOTES 261 



fishes stranded in "lows" he prefers, perhaps, to anything, 

 while floating bread and fragments on the tide are gleaned 

 in times of scarcity ; but the vile carrion that delights his 

 larger relatives he does not gratefully fall back on. But insects 

 he always delights to patronise with his attentions, and 

 many of the Tipula, Staphylina, and Diptercz, which are 

 blown into Breydon, are scrupulously gathered. Moths that 

 essay a trip across in the summer evenings are not despised, 

 while blue-bottles which have discovered a carcase by its 

 scent, are coveted tit-bits. When commenting on this 

 insectivorous proclivity of Larus ridibundus in the county 

 paper, the following note in reply to my remarks was in- 

 serted : 



" SIR, In connection with this correspondence in your 

 paper, I should like to say that the beautiful May-fly (be- 

 loved of trout and trout-anglers) is one of the gull's insect 

 victims. I have seen gulls catch them on our own rivers ; 

 and on some of the Irish loughs a good rise of May-fly 

 means a grand feast for the gulls. The gulls assemble in 

 flocks on some of the big lakes, and directly the flies begin 

 to flutter to the surface, and dance about it, down swoop the 

 watchful birds. In this way large numbers of May-flies are 

 devoured, and the sport of the trout-angler suffers in conse- 

 quence. A R M 



I feel inclined to add a pronounced " ? " to the last line of 

 " A. R. M's " communication ; for despite lament, both gulls 

 and anglers get their fair share of sport, especially if the 

 latter be only half as expert as their rivals. 



SOME WOODCOCK NOTES 



When I was a lad the wearing of a number of the axillary 

 feathers of the woodcock in the band of a cap or hat was a 

 sort of sign amongst the shooting fraternity that the wearer 

 had something to be proud of in having shot a bird or birds 

 of this species : one feather denoting one woodcock, and so 

 on. A sportsman nowadays, under ordinary circumstances, 

 would generally be able to show but a very few indeed. 

 Yearly this species seems to be visiting us in decreasing 

 numbers. 



The woodcock invariably arrives tired out, which is not to 



