78 LONG-TAILED BUCK. 



the winter of 1810: the species has also occurred on the 

 River Isis, near Kennington. In Derbyshire some visit the 

 Trent in hard winters. In Durham it has occurred near Bishop 

 Auckland; also on the Cumberland coast. In December, 1849, 

 after a long chase, one of these birds was obtained by Arthur 

 Dymoke Bradshaw, Esq., of Southampton, as that gentleman 

 has written me word. In Huntingdonshire one was kiMed 

 in January, 1838. In Devonshire a few have been obtained 

 one near Knightsbridge; also in Dorsetshire, as likewise in 

 Kent, Essex, and Suffolk. They sometimes are on sale in 

 the London markets. In Norfolk the species in the adult 

 state occurs occasionally, though rarely, on Breydon, near 

 Yarmouth, in hard winters. The immature birds are not so 

 uncommon. 



In Scotland they are plentiful on the Frith of Forth, and 

 in Aberdeenshire, near Banff. They also appear in considerable 

 numbers in Orkney and Shetland. 



In Ireland they rank among the occasional visitants. The 

 counties of Galway and Dublin have furnished specimens. 

 The late William Thompson, Esq., of Belfast, has mentioned 

 his having procured specimens four years successively from 

 that neighbourhood. 



During the day-time, if not engaged in feeding, they may 

 be seen off the shore, resting on the rising and felling waves, 

 or every now and then getting on the wing, and 'flying 

 round and round in circles, chasing one another, squattering 

 along the surface, half flying, half swimming, accompanying 

 all these gambols with their curious cries. When the storms 

 are at their loudest, and the waves running mountains high, 

 then their glee seems to reach its highest pitch.' Towards 

 night they all fly off together for some favourite resting or 

 feeding ground, so to call what is only a ground-swell. 



By the end of October or beginning of November, small 

 flocks of these birds assemble in suitable localities in the 

 northern parts of Scotland, from regions still farther north, 

 and during the succeeding months of December and January, 

 according to the severity of the weather, their numbers are 

 added to by fresh arrivals, till large flights are collected 

 together; until this is the case they generally go in small 

 parties of three or four, one a male, the others females. 

 Towards the end of March they begin again to separate, 

 and this goes on till the second or third week in April, or 

 even to the latter end of May, as the season is comparatively 



