BIRDS OF THE ESTUARY. 217 



I quote the following brief lines pencilled 

 for me by A;lderman C. E. L. Gardner, J.P., 

 of Clifton who has a residence near the estuary 

 and who, in addition to the finest powers of 

 observation with field glasses, has acquired a 

 reputation as an outdoor naturalist superior to 

 that of many scientific ornithologists. 



' A few years ago on an August bank 

 holiday I found my first Ringed plovers' nest 

 at Budleigh-Salterton. I noticed the bird 

 creeping up over the beach and settle down. 

 On going over to the place I found the nest 

 with one egg. I say nest, but there was really 

 none, as the egg was on the stones. Unfor- 

 tunately the place was crowded with people and 

 the egg was either stepped upon or taken : 

 although I believe the Herring gulls are the 

 worst enemy the Ringed plovers have. 



I have since found a number of nests the 

 earliest date May lyth and watched many rear 

 their young ones in safety. Occasionally the 

 bird selects a patch of tide refuse for its 

 nesting spot; but usually I have found the 

 eggs on the bare beach. Although a heavy 

 pebble beach and very extensive, yet I once 

 found the eggs in precisely the same place 

 two years following, as proved by a peculiar 

 stone by which I marked the spot. 



This reminds me that I once found a 

 Butcherbird's nest (Red backed shrike) three 

 years following in the same bush. The first 

 on'e contained five eggs on June 2nd the next 

 year on May 27th. On the first occasion after 



