The Zoologist— July, 1874. 4059 



having seen others which seemed sleeping in dust, unlooked after, 



unlooked at. 



C. B. Carey. 



Candie, Guernsey, April 18, 1874. 



[I have somewhat to say about museums, the appointment of curators, &c., 

 but must defer it to the August number. — E. Newman.] 



Ornithological Notes from North Lincolnshire. 

 By John Cordeaux, Esq. 



(Continued from S. S. 4031.) 



May, 1874. 



The extreme cold which continued all through the month of May 

 has had the effect of considerably retarding the arrival of our smaller 

 summer visitants. At the same time all this unseasonable weather — 

 frost, sharp north-easterly winds, accompanied by heavy sea-fogs — 

 has probably induced the numerous flocks of waders on their 

 passage northward to prolong their slay on the muddy foreshores 

 of the river as well as along the sea-coast; thus it has been, 

 without exception, the most favorable month for observation I ever 

 recollect; never have the shore-birds visited us in greater number, 

 or tarried so late in the season. We have not, however, had the 

 weather to thank altogether for this ornithological treat; the new 

 Bird Act has had much to do with it : the birds have been un- 

 molested by the prowling gunners. I could this season go down 

 any day with my telescope to the foreshore with a certainty of 

 finding the coast undisturbed, the birds feeding quietly on these 

 oozy flats. In former years it certainly would have been a rare 

 occurrence in this parish to have met less than three or four hulking 

 fellows with guns lounging along the embankment, blazing away 

 at everything which flew past under eighty or one hundred yards, 

 from a curlew to a stint; whilst others, more practical, would be 

 stationed in holes dug on the "muds," and armed with heavy double 

 guns, dealing death and destruction to every passing flock, the 

 eff'ect being to drive the birds away altogether, or make them so wild 

 that it always required the utmost care and precaution to obtain 

 even a sight through a telescope ; but all this is now altered, and 

 deeply thankful are we who dwell on the sea-coast for the change— 



