TiiK Zoologist— June, 1874. 4029 



Ornithological Notes from North Lincolnshire. 

 By John Cordeaux, Esq. 



(Continued from S. S. 3043.) 



March and April, 1874.- 



Teal. — March 10. Wind N.N.W., heavy snow squalls and sharp 

 frost. The severe weather has driven many wild ducks inland to 

 the streams and drains. Shot five teal from the "beck" this 

 morning; four of the number were males in full breeding plumage. 



Pied Wagtail. — March 16. The pied wagtails came northward 

 rather later than usual; we saw few before the commencement of 

 the third week in March. There apjDears to be a constant suc- 

 cession of small flocks at this season in the coast districts, on the 

 move northward. 



Golden Plover. — March 18. There were many hundreds in the 

 marshes to-day, very wild and unsettled, and constantly on the 

 wing; they soon left again, probably for the north. In one flock 

 of golden plover there was a single curlew sandpiper. 



Greenfinch. — Observed during the first fortnight in April large 

 flocks of small birds, entirely composed of this species, on freshly- 

 sown oat-fields near the sea embankment. These flocks were 

 made up of males and females in about equal proportions: they 

 were generally employed in picking up and consuming those oats 

 which remained uncovered, the husk being invariably rejected and 

 the kernel only swallowed. Gizzards examined contained also 

 many small stones and the seeds of the clover plant, sown at the 

 same time as the oats, hundreds of these small seeds remaining 

 exposed, or partly exposed, in the loose soil. These flocks, 

 J believe, were migratory, and they left, almost to a day, about the 

 15lh of the month. 



Rook. — April 6. Young rooks first heard calling in nests. 



Peewit. — April 6. First nest found containing three eggs. Out 

 of the innumerable peewit-nests which for many years I have been 

 in the habit of examining in these dry and highly cultivated 

 marshes, I have almost invariably found the eggs deposited in the 

 shallow nest placed on some slight, and often considerable, 

 elevation, never in a hollow or furrow ; although obviously in 

 these latter situations the sitting bird would be in a great measure 

 unobserved and less likely to be disturbed. In old times, when 



SECOND SERIES — VOL. IX. 2 G 



