Tue ZooLocist—SEPTEMBER, 1872. $209 
more or less broken into with white, and not so well defined as in 
the birds which leave our river-flats in the spring. I believe them 
to be birds of the previous summer, not yet breeding. 
Gulls.—On the 3rd and 4th of July, I found the lesser black- 
backed gulls, with their young, numerously represented on the 
Wash sand-banks and along the Lincolnshire coast. There were 
also a few herring gulls, but these were immature birds; I did not 
observe either the adult or young of the year. A few great black- 
backed gulls were also seen, along with the young bird or “ wagels,” 
along the coast. The brownheaded gulls, both old and young, were 
very numerous. At Spurn, on the 17th, there was an immense 
assemblage of sea-gulls of various species. East of the Point I saw 
thirty lesser blackbacks, all of them birds of the year, riding like 
boats at anchor, two hundred yards from shore, and all with heads 
to windward. On the Humber side of the Point there was another 
flock of these gulls, numbering about fifty, a few of which were 
fully adult. I also saw a flock of several hundred common and 
brownheaded gulls, with few exceptions birds of the year. Very 
few herring gulls seen: these have evidently not yet left their nesting 
stations to come south in any numbers. After the brownhead the 
lesser blackbacked gull is always the first to return from their 
breeding haunts with the young; then the greater blackbacked ; 
and last of all the kittiwake. Several kittiwakes seen at Spurn on the 
17th, but all were birds either in the second or third year’s plumage. 
Spoonbill.—On the evening of the 24th, when running down the 
Western Schelde from Antwerp, a pair of spoonbills crossed our 
bows, flying about mast-high and within gunshot. I was sitting on 
the heel of the bowsprit at the time with my glass in hand, and 
had a very fine view of these splendid birds; both were fully 
adult, and magnificent specimens: they flew like storks. I shall 
long remember this evening, from the brilliant sunset, all the 
north-western sky over Flushing sand-dunes being aglow with 
crimson light; the sea, which was like crystal, less deeply suffused 
with the rich colour; long strings and lines of wild ducks, 
intensely black against this bright back-ground, were flying from 
the Dutch coast towards the centre of the river, forcibly recalling 
what must often have been the scene in our Lincolnshire fens long 
years ago. 
JOHN CORDEAUX. 
Great Cotes, Uleeby, Lincolnshire, 
August 2, 1872. 
