9330 : Birds. 
the shorter ones dark gray, mottled with black; legs one inch long from the joint, and 
three toes one inch anda half; tail gray, longest feathers in the centre.—J. A. Clarke ; 
11, Duncan Place, London Fields, Hackney, October 6, 1864. 
[The bird is doubtless a sanderling in winter plumage, the measurements and 
description agree very nearly, and the special mention of the toes makes it almost a 
matter of certainty. Morris only figures the summer dress, which accounts for my 
correspondent not recognising the bird.— Edward Newman.] 
Note on the Appearance of the Ruff and Reeve in Lincolnshire—On the 23rd of 
September I shot a young ruff out of a flock of twelve or fifteen of these birds. I had 
noticed them some days previously, in company with green plovers, feeding in some 
low grounds in this parish, and, curiously enough, within one hundred yards of a rail- 
way. They did not appear to be very wild, for although the peewits rose in a body 
and flew off, on the passage of a train, the ruffs merely flew for a short distance, and 
alighting commenced feeding again. When going any distance, they flew with great 
rapidity, and in the form of the letter V. They are the first I have seen during a 
residence of fifteen years in the county, and therefore register it as an interesting 
ornithological fact. Years since they were frequently seen and taken in the Lincoln- 
shire marshes, but drainage and the fowler have long since driven them away, and we 
should now as soon expect to hear the “ boom” of the bittern as to see a flock of ruffs 
and reeves.—John Cordeaux ; Great Cotes, Uiceby, Lincolnshire, October, 1864. 
Note on the Appearance of the Little Stint in the Humber.—I had a specimen of 
the little stint (Zringa minuta) brought to me this morning: it was shot on the 
Humber flats, and, as my informant told me, was the only one of its sort, and was 
feeding in company with some dunlins. It is the first specimen I have had from the 
Humber, although I believe the minute stint occasionally visits the mud flats in the 
spring and autumn. I have seen with my landscape-glass, in the former season, what 
I feel quite certain were minute stints feeding in company with dunlins, &c., but, 
owing to the general impassable nature of these mud flats, have never before been 
able to procure a specimen. The bird was in fine autumn plumage; the tail of twelve 
feathers, having the two middle and two outside longest, making it double forked. 
The two central feathers of the tail clove-brown, the remainder light gray. Forehead 
and a very distinct streak over the eye gray-white.—Jd. ; September 18, 1864. 
Manx Shearwater at Flamborough and Filey.—In the October number of the 
* Zoologist’ (Zool. 9291) I reported the capture of a Manx shearwater, stating that I 
had never seen it before, and believed it to be a very rare bird on this portion of the 
east coast. My specimen appears to have been one of a flock of these shearwaters, for 
although it was alone when shot, it may have been separated from the rest by repeated 
attempts to secure it. I arrive at this conclusion because my friend Mr. T. Buckley 
shot no less than three specimens off Filey, only a few miles from the point where mine 
were shot between the 4th and 6th of July. Mine was shot on the 16th of the same 
month. I have seen all Mr. Buckley’s specimens, two of which were mature and the 
other a bird of the year. Mr. Buckley told me that he badly wounded a fourth speci- 
men, which escaped, and that he saw a fifth. Moreover, I purchased two mature 
specimens that had been shot also off Filey about the same date: these birds had, un- 
fortunately, been skinned just previously to my receiving them, so that I was unable 
to determine the sex, as there do not appear to be any sexual distinctions in the 
plumage, &c. Still, however, I believe these birds to be extremely rare visitants to 
the east coast of Yorkshire. They are unknown to the oldest boatmen and collectors 
