The Zoologist— Jdly, 1869. 1739 



Shoveller. — This duck is not uncommon in the Trent district, and 

 two hundred and eighty-five are recorded as having been captured on 

 the Ashby decoy in thirty-five years. It must by no means be sup- 

 posed that every rare duck which shows itself on a decoy is captured : 

 during the last winter a flock of sixteen shovellers, principally males, 

 came into the decoy ; I believe none of these were taken. These 

 ducks have an odd habit of swimming round and round each other in 

 circles — they will do this for hours together. Nearly four thousand 

 ducks — mallard, widgeon and teal — were taken during the season 

 1848-9. The year is remarkable for the number of widgeon captured. 



Garganey Teal. — About twenty garganeys are recorded as having 



been taken at Ashby in twenty years. A pair of these little ducks 



were seen in April this year in a pool on the neighbouring common : 



they were not shot. 



Rare Birds killed in the Trent District, North Lincolnshire. — 



At the sale of the late Captain Healey's effects, at the Ashby-decoy 

 Cottage, were several cases of stuffed birds, — Lincolnshire specimens, 

 — either shot in the neighbourhood or taken on the decoy. Others 

 which I saw now form part of a private collection in the neighbour- 

 hood. Amongst the most noticeable were merlin (male and female, 

 the male an old bird in the beautiful mature plumage), common and 

 roughlegged buzzards, fern owls, crossbills (immature), thick-knee 

 plover, bitterns, ruffs and reeves (the former in their beautiful nuptial 

 attire), garganeys, shovellers, pintails and gadwalls, hooper and 

 Bewick's swan, little auk (captured on decoy), pheasant (old English 

 type, Phasianus colchicus), blackcock and redlegged partridges. 

 Black game were introduced into the district ; not so, however, the 

 redlegged partridge, which fortunately is a very rare bird. 



Hoopoe. — "A hoopoe (Upupa epops) has just been shot in Hol- 

 beach Fen, and has been forwarded to Mr. Foster, the curator of 

 the Wisbeach Museum, for preservation." — ' Stamford Mercury,' 

 April 30lh). 



May. 



Whimhrel. — May 1st. First arrival ; several flocks observed. 



Common Dotterel. — May 4th. I have had a long walk to-day across 

 the Humber marshes after dotterel, thinking both of a friend's collec- 

 tion and the parasites, which as yet I had had no opportunity of 

 examining. These marshes are one unbroken stretch of pasture land, 

 now as green as an emerald ; any " trip " of dotterel could not fail to 



