VOL. XV.] ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 281 



sea off Palling, on October 13th, 1913, and Dr. Riviere points 

 out that it coincided precisely ivith a record catch of herrings. 

 According to m}^ journal the day was line at Keswick, with 

 little or no wind. 



Effect on the Gitlls of the Failure of the Herring Season. — 

 It was to be expected that the fact of the 1921 herring season 

 (October and November) having been one of the worst on 

 record, the number of GuUs would diminish, and with a 

 view of ascertaining whether this was the case, I put myself 

 in communication with Lt.-Com. Hamond, who writes as 

 fohows : — " The chief point I noticed in October (1921) was 

 the unusual scarcity of Gulls at sea with the (herring) boats. 

 There was a normal supply in the end of September and early 

 October with the boats working off the Humber, that is 

 50-200 Gulls following each drifter which had any fish on 

 board. However, there was a great scarcity of Gulls among 

 the fleets (of trawlers) working east of Yarmouth and 

 Lowestoft in mid-October, I imagine owing to the heavy 

 hauls of fish " 



Lt.-Com. Hamond adds that it was the i8th of October 

 when the first big haul of herrings was made off the Norfolk 

 coast, at which time he was among the trawlers, and was 

 much surprised at the lack of Gulls, except Kitti wakes. 



Winter Notes. 



Sea-birds in Norwich. — Two rivers empty themselves into 

 Breydon Broad, one of which, the Yare, joins the Wensum 

 just below Norwich. One would not think that the dirty 

 Wensum, which winds its narrow course through the City, 

 could have much attraction for birds, nevertheless the Little 

 Gull has been shot there, and at the close of December, 192 1, 

 this polluted stream was frequented by a Red-throated Diver 

 (species identified by Mr. Clarke) whose place was taken after 

 an interval of a few days by a Shag, and subsequently by 

 two more Shags, one of which had been picked up in a garden 

 and thrown into the river by a friendly hand. Dirty as is the 

 water and closely lined with houses, it nevertheless contains 

 eels and some small fish, and that these were the attraction 

 which drew the sea-birds there can be little doubt, but how 

 they knew they were there is a mystery only to be explained 

 by supposing that birds possess a food-finding sense unknown 

 to human beings. 



Apart from these sea-birds the winter was uneventful, 

 except that between November 9th and December 31st, 

 about twenty Little Auks were picked up, mostly within a 



