304 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
course, fell easy victims to their persecutors ; as a consequence, 
the Crows shot at this season were in the highest possible condi- 
tion. The few Woodcocks that remained in this same district 
were so reduced as to allow themselves to be picked up. The 
Starlings also suffered greatly. At Marston, in the Vale of York, 
is a small fir-plantation, which in the autumn and winter is the 
nightly resort of thousands of these birds, which about sunset 
begin to arrive from every direction, and form one or more 
immense flocks. After indulging for a short time in preliminary 
flights, they settle down in the trees, when their united chatter 
for the next quarter of an hour, heard from a short distance, 
bears a striking resemblance to the roar of a distant waterfall. 
Amongst this colony the severe cold made sad havoc, such 
immense numbers succumbing that, when the spring advanced, 
the effluvium from their decaying bodies caused the plantation to 
be simply unbearable. At Wilstrop my friend, Mr. Harrison, 
found a Kingfisher frozen to death on the iron frame of a sluice ; 
the feet being fixed, and the body leaning forward with out- 
stretched wings, as if in the act of taking flight. 
During the early part of January Water Rails were exceedingly 
abundant in South-East Yorkshire ; being, no doubt, immigrants 
from the Continent, from whence this species arrives annually 
in the autumn. One of these birds came on board a fishing- 
smack when some miles off the coast, and was kept alive for 
about a week by its captor. 
The first fortnight in February found hundreds of Guillemots 
and Razorbills lying dead along the shore at Easington—victims 
to the continued severity of the season. 
The first spring migrant I observed was a Chiffchaff on the 
23rd March. This was followed by the Willow Warbler on the 
Ist April; the Sand Martin on the 5th; the Wood Wren on the 
9th. The Ring Ouzel I saw on the Beamsly Moors on the 12th; 
and a Common Sandpiper was observed in Holderness on 
the 14th. 
On the 80th March I saw a larger number of Pied Wagtails 
together than had ever been my lot; I counted 130, and there — 
were many more. They were feeding on a lawn in Wharfedale, 
and were probably, if not certainly, a flock on their migratory 
course from more southern winter quarters. When at Bolton 
Abbey, on the 12th April, I had the pleasure of watching for some 
