BIRD-LIFE AT SEA. 265 



bird-life elsewhere. We should mention, however, 

 that the Red-breasted Merganser is sometimes 

 seen during winter in Tor Bay ; the only wonder is 

 that it is not more abundant, for the coast in many 

 places is eminently suited to it. The Goosander 

 is an occasional visitor to this bay. A male 

 example was seen and identified by my friend Mr. 

 Charles Whymper, just off the Paignton pier, on 

 the 1 5th of February 1899; others have been 

 recorded. Curiously enough, so far as we know, 

 the Smew has not yet been recorded from this 

 locality, although it has been frequently obtained 

 both north and south of it. We may remark, how- 

 ever, that Messrs. D'Urban and Mathew, in their 

 Birds of Devon, have omitted to notice the female 

 Smew which was obtained by Burt in Tor Bay, 

 and which is now preserved in the museum of the 

 Torquay Natural History Society. Of the Petrels 

 that frequent the sea in this part of South Devon 

 we can mention the Storm Petrel, which also 

 breeds on islands in the bay; the Fork-tailed 

 Petrel, which is not only sometimes observed at 

 sea, but driven ashore here (there is a local speci- 

 men in the Torquay Museum obtained after a 

 storm in the autumn of 1891); the Manx Shear- 



