126 BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 



banks, bare at low water, which fringe our flat 

 Lincolnshire coast, the rising tide compelling them to 

 shift their quarters. The lightkeeper at Flamborough 

 told me that he once saw a flight of " cocks" arrive on 

 the Headland in the daytime. They usually reach 

 Mamborough with a N. or N.E. wind, and drop im- 

 mediately on landing, either just topping the cliffs, or 

 in stormy weather dropping at their base, sheltering 

 in any little cave or hollow worn by the waves at the 

 base of the rocks. The dwellers on the Headland 

 and at Spurn are in the autumn led to expect their 

 arrival by the appearance of the Gold-crested Wrens 

 (better known as " Woodcock-pilots ") . It is a 

 remarkable and well-ascertained fact that these little 

 fellows almost invariably precede the Woodcock by a 

 few days. Others, again, draw similar conclusions 

 from the Short-eared Owl and Redwing. On the 

 Lincolnshire coast the rule is, that four days after 

 the Hooded Crows the Woodcocks come*. 



As a rule, on their first arrival they are very fat and 

 in good condition ; we occasionally, although rarely, 

 meet with an exception. I have weighed them from 

 12} to as low as 7 ounces f. 



* Mr. Pennant, in his ' British Zoology/ says, "When the 

 Redwings appear on the coast in autumn, it is certain the Wood- 

 cocks are at hand ; when the Royston Crow, they are come. 



Between the 12th and 25th of March they flock to the coast 

 to be ready for their departure. 



t Speaking of the weight of the Woodcock, Mr. L. Lloyd 

 says, "The heaviest I ever killed in Scandinavia little exceeded 



