ir 4 A BIRD COLLECTOR'S MEDLEY. 



majority have not yet assumed this ornament of the breeding season. 

 Mealy Redpolls are seen now and then amongst the flocks, though I have 

 never come across one myself. Titlarks, of course, abound, and a bird 

 that one would hardly expect to meet with, but which does crop up at 

 times, is the Rock-Pipit ; one recognizes it readily on the rock-bound coast, 

 but here on the salt-marshes it is often overlooked ; in fact, it was for long 

 supposed to be a rare Norfolk bird. And hereby hangs a story. The 

 dealer who first discovered it to be plentiful shot many, and, writing 

 simultaneously to several well-known naturalists who collected county birds, 

 asked each what he was prepared to give for a pair of Norfolk-killed 

 Rock-Pipits. The savants each made an offer, based on Stevenson's estimate 

 of the birds' rarity. Needless to say, these offers were accepted, and the 

 purchasers returned in triumph with their spoils. The spirit of boastfulness 

 which belongs to all collectors was not likely to make them conceal their 

 acquisitions, but the gilt was off the gingerbread as soon as it became 

 apparent that fortune had bestowed its favours on all alike. Hastily as- 

 suming that birds shot outside the county had been palmed off upon them, 

 the whole body sought out the deceiver, and indignantly demanded an 

 explanation of conduct so extraordinary. 



"There is none," replied the unabashed salesman. " They are Norfolk 

 birds, as I stated; the extraordinary thing is that you should have been 

 willing to give such prices for them, when you might yourselves have shot 

 dozens on the beach." 



That evening a sadder and a wiser band, returning homewards from 

 the sea-shore with lightened pockets if enlightened minds, was forced at 

 length to confess from personal investigation that the Rock- Pipit was a 

 common Norfolk bird. 



If there happen to be any ricks in the neighbourhood, they will be 

 well worth visiting in the winter, this being the most likely place to meet 

 with a Cirl-Bunting, or that brightly coloured visitor from northern latitudes, 

 the Bramble-Finch. But, after all, the prize to be sought for at this 

 season of the year is the Shore-Lark. For long considered one of our 

 rarest birds, it is now recognized that in most seasons it is fairly common 

 on the sand dunes of the east coast ; at times, indeed, flocks of thirty or 

 upwards are to be seen there, but it is more often to be met with in 

 small parties of half a dozen, sometimes mingling with the Sky-Larks, 

 from which it may be distinguished readily by its note. 



The Lapland-Bunting is another rarity that sometimes turns up amongst 

 the bushes, but it is a hard bird to recognize, and is more often to be 



