October 1, 1897.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



239 



Biitts!) (Dviutijolostcal ilotcs. 



Conducted hij Harry F. Witherby, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 



As announced in the last number of Knowledge, ice commence 

 in the present issue a column wliich is to be devoted for the 

 future to oriijinal notes dealimj with the habits, the distribution, 

 the migrations, and the occurrenre of rare species, of British 

 birds. To make this record complete and of still greater value 

 to the systematic ornithologist, it is intended, briertii, to extract 

 fnim every source urailable all important records of the month, 

 and (I'si to drair attention to any article of especial interest to 

 the British ornitholnyist. 



Over one hundred ornitholoyists from all parts of the country 

 have already promised to contribute notes, and it is to be hoped 

 that the column will have universal suppart from ornithologists, 

 and will become a permanent and valuable record, whicli will 

 be the means of furthering the knowledge of British birds. 



Possible breeding of the Green Sandpiper in 

 Beecoxshike. — I have already reported to The Field the 

 occurrence of two green sandpipers, during the spring 

 and summer months, near here up to August, and from 

 their actions suspected that they were breeding. I saw 

 them constantly during the spring up to the end of June. 

 I did .not see them again until July 21st, although they 

 have been noticed by others ; but when following the otter 

 hounds on that day they disturbed four together, about a 

 mile higher up the river than the spot where the old birds 

 used to frequent. They were very wild and flew high, but 

 they may have been frightened by the otter hounds. 

 Shortly afterwards, what I imagined were the old birds 

 flew up the river close in front of us. Taking the above 

 into consideration, it appears to me very probable that the 

 green sandpiper has bred with us this summer, although 

 I have no positive proof of it. Since writing the above 

 a little party of six green sandpipers were observed daily, 

 probably the four young ones and the two old ones. They 

 stayed until the middle of August, when they left. The 

 inference as to their having bred here is, I think, fairly 

 plain. — E. Cambridge Phillips, Bwlch, Breconshire. 



" Save me from my Artist.'' — The three pictures at page 

 800 of the "Encyclopaedia of Sport," reproduced from 

 the Art Journal for September, 1882, are, or were when 

 they left the hands of my friend the photographer and the 

 present writer, who stood by consenting at their production, 

 admirable representations of the decoy, but the after 

 treatment by the " artist " has made two of them absurd. 

 One picture represents the "end of a pipe," and the 

 decoyman is seen removing the tunnel-net which forms 

 the final receptacle for the fowl. The first hoop of this 

 net drops into a groove at the end of the fixed pipe, and 

 when the birds are driven in, it is simply detached by 

 raising the hoop and giving it a half turn, thereby securing 

 the fowl, which are then removed one by one by the 

 decoyman, and killed. It will be noticed that the artist 

 has introduced a number of ducks (which, by the bye, in 

 their frantic efforts to escape must have a very disturbing 

 influence upon the fowl left in the pond), but unfortunately 

 only one of their number has passed into the purse-net, 

 the removal of which would set the remainder free ! This 

 is really too gross a libel on the skilled decoyman whose 

 portrait is given. Of the very artistic introduction of the 

 dog in the picture of the " mouth of a pipe," I will only 

 say that the best thing which could happen to a decoy- 

 man's dog so far forgetting itself, and shamefully abusing 

 its training, would be a speedy and painless death. It is 

 needless to say that the letterpress which accompanies the 

 illustrations, being from the pen of Mr. Harting, is free 



from the absurdities which usually disfigure such articles ; 

 but I doubt not, on seeing the illustrations, he would 

 exclaim, as miuy another author ha? h^d good reason to 

 do, " Sive me from my artist." — Thomas Southwell, 

 Norwich. 



Herons catching Trout. — A heron shot some time ago at 

 the Solway Fishery had twenty-seven yearling trout in his 

 crop — a goodly number surely for one meal ! Another, shot 

 on another occasion, contained twenty-five. I have often 

 watched the birds when engaged in robbing the ponds, and 

 have seen one under such circumstances put itself into 

 almost every conceivable position ; running excitedly to 

 and fro, with outstretched neck, beholding thousands of 

 yearling trout in the clear water of a pond close by, and 

 suggestiag a good deal of the ludicrous. The trout 

 are just out of his reach, but he can see them, and one 

 rising to the surface now and then, almost within his 

 reach, seems to send him half frantic. At last his " plan of 

 campaign " is settled, and slipping over the bank of the 

 pond — which is about one foot perpendicular above the 

 water, and grown over with grass — he grasps the grass, or 

 anything he can lay hold of, with one foot (which is 

 doubled up, the tarsus being in a horizontal position, or 

 nearly so), and with the other leg in the water, and stretched 

 to the full, he gains a footing if he can. One wing is folded 

 to his body, or may be drooping a little, whilst the other 

 is outstretched over the bank, and is used as an arm for 

 holding on. The breast of the bird is in the water, and 

 there he remains motionless, with his beak very near the 

 surface, though the head is drawn back a little. With 

 thousands of fish near he has not long to wait before one 

 comes within his reach, and dexterously, with his head 

 well submerged, he seizes his luckless victim, losing his 

 balance in doing so. But never mind ! the capture has 

 been made, and the heron calmly swims across the pond 

 some thirty feet and flaps out on the other side. Twice 

 I have I now witnessed this interesting performance. 

 One piorning I was waiting during the early hours to 

 shoot a heron ; the bird came and alighted by a pond full 

 of yearlings. The water was quite clear, and he could see 

 the fish, but owing to the vegetation on the banks of the 

 pond, he could not slip over the edge in the manner 

 already described. He ran about wildly, reminding me of 

 a terrier who can see or smell a rat that his teeth cannot 

 quite reach. The bird was wildly excited, and soon settled 

 on his plan of action. He flapped over the water, stopped, 

 hovered a moment, and then dropped in bodily, his beak 

 being right down among the fish, one of which he brought 

 up. This is not hereditary instinct, but it is an acquired 

 habit, which is developed by force of circumstances. — • 

 J. .J. Armistead, Solway Fishery, Dumfries. 



Herring Gulls and Guillemot. — When residing at 

 Filey, in June, we often found eggs of the common 

 guillemot, fresh and entire, washed up on the coast. I was 

 told that the cliff- climbers of Speeton and Bempton com- 

 plain greatly of the injury done by the Herring gulls in 

 carrying: off the eggs of the guillemot from the cliffs. This 

 they do in their feet, and if alarmed, or through carelessness, 

 frequently drop them into the sea, where they at once 

 sink, and are subsequently washed up in Filey Bay. I 

 have long known that Herring gulls will carry off' large 

 eggs impaled on their powerful beaks, but the fact of their 

 using the feet is new to me. The only parallel I can find 

 is the statement of Dr. Hayes ("Open Polar Sea") when he 

 says : " I have seen the ivory gull seize our wounded auks, 

 and, after a sharp battle, carry them off' in her talons — a 

 novel use of a palmated foot." — John Cobdeaux, Great 

 Coates, Lincoln. 



