342 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
were circling round and round, and apparently uncertain what 
direction to take, but at last they passed on inland towards 
Felbrigg and Beeston, and at the same altitude. I had just 
previously heard, though faintly, the cry of the Great Black- 
backed Gull, and almost as high up as the Redshanks. I made 
out a small group of these birds, who were having a mazy dance 
up in the blue sky, flying in wide circles over the sea, though not 
far from the shore, and were revelling in the warmth of an almost 
unknown sunshine in the summer of 1879. On the 23rd of 
September a few Greenshanks, Turnstones, Pigmy Curlew, Grey 
Plover, Knots, and Dunlins were seen at Blakeney, and some shot. 
The Knots were extremely poor in condition, as were others killed 
a week before ; the rest were in good condition. A Grey Plover, 
shot at Yarmouth on the 21st of September, retained very nearly 
the full black breast of its summer plumage. A Little Stint was 
also shot at Blakeney on the 30th. A very considerable flight of 
Snipes appeared in the marshes between Surlingham and Rock- 
land about the middle of September. A marshman, who was 
looking after his cygnets, told me he put up over a hundred Snipe 
in one afternoon, and I believe the same was observed at Ranworth. 
On the 7th of November a Purple Sandpiper was shot at 
Yarmouth, and one at Blakeney on the 29th; and on the 5th a 
Sanderling in nearly full winter plumage at Yarmouth. Immense 
flocks of Dunlins on Breydon, and a few Knots during the 
severe frost early in December, but little else of note amongst 
the waders. 
Raptorial Migrants.—On the 10th of February a Rough- 
legged Buzzard was seen at Northrepps flying inland, and a 
Common Buzzard appeared in the same locality on the 5th of 
March. On the 16th of March a young male Kite, a rare species 
now in Norfolk, was trapped at Northrepps after frequenting the 
neighbourhood for some three weeks. The bird was in good 
condition, though in rather worn plumage, and was altogether 
somewhat light-coloured. A female Hobby was shot at Sparham 
on the 8rd of April; and on the 8th of June a Short-eared Owl 
was seen at Northrepps, a most unusual date, unless the bird had 
remained to breed somewhere in the county. Mr. J. H. Gurney, 
jun., has also recorded in ‘The Zoologist’ for 1879 (p. 490) an 
“ extraordinary assemblage” of this species on the Beacon Hills, 
near Cromer, on the 6th of November, when from the open 
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