The Zoologist — November, 1874. 4225 



Dunlin and Ringed Plover, — August 3. Large flocks, mainly 

 cornposecl of young birds, in the marshes. 



Curlew. — August 3. Many young of the year in the grass 

 marshes near the Humber. 



Knot. — August 18. There were young birds on the flats as early 

 as this date. 



Terns. — August 21. Terns are partly crepuscular in their feeding, 

 and in the twilight have a wonderfully keen sight for any small 

 floating object. This evening, when a ie\x miles from the mouth 

 of the Humber, we had scores beating for food round the yacht. 

 It was so nearly dark that on looking over the bulwarks I found it 

 was impossible to distinguish any small floating object, yet terns 

 were dropping in rapid succession, one after the other, from the 

 height of twenty or twenty-five feet, and seizing some small fish or 

 floating object near the surface. The sea was highly luminous, 

 and it may be that each little fish, as it dashed to and fro, carried 

 its own lamp, a real danger-signal in this case, guiding the graceful 

 sea swallow to its supper. A pleasant sight it is, on a bright 

 summer day, with a smooth sea, to watch a flock of terns fishing, 

 beating here and there, and examining every yard of water, like 

 pointers quartering a field ; now one, then another, remains 

 momentarily suspended on motionless wing ; then there is that 

 rapid dash downwards and the splash in the green sea, the bird 

 rising almost instantly with a small glittering fish held crosswise in 

 its bill; this, before it is bolted, requires properly adjusting, head 

 downwards, and I have often been amused at the efi'orts made 

 by the bird to get the fish straight for its gullet, often dropping 

 it three or four times in succession, and by a sudden down- 

 ward dash recovering it in mid-air. It is rarely the fish reaches 

 the water again, and then so battered and pinched as to be readily 

 retrieved. 



Redthoated Diver. — August 21. One seen ofi'the Spurn. 



Great Skua. — August 21. I saw this noble, but now un- 

 fortunately rare, bird some miles out at sea this afternoon, in 

 chase of a lesser blackbacked gull, which it fairly drove down on 

 the water, and then seemed reluctant to abandon its pretensions. 

 Since this date I have passed over nearly a thousand miles of the 

 North Sea without coming across another example. Richardson's 

 skua is not uncommon, and at this season may be found all along 

 our east coast. 



