154 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
records, as it is manifest that at best they are very unreliable. 
A single bird may arrive in the neighbourhood and go unnoticed 
for weeks unless some one who knows it discovers it. Again, 
I may put down the date of my first hearing or seeing a certain 
bird here, whereas it may have appeared a fortnight earlier a few 
miles away. So, too, some birds do not make their presence 
known immediately on their first arrival. The Corn Crake is one 
of these, and it generally remains mute until sufficient shelter 
is afforded it: this is proved by finding them with pointers or 
setters when none have been heard thereabouts, or perhaps not at 
all that season. 
On February 10th I saw, in the snow on the river-side, the foot- 
prints of a Bittern. It had walked to several places where the 
sedges were highest, evidently looking for a place of concealment, 
but the shelter apparently had not been sufficient, for it had then 
walked back to the water-side and taken wing. Two of these birds 
were seen several times during the winter at a private piece of 
water here, where the owner always preserves them: I am told 
that one or more are seen there almost every winter. 
The dreadful storm of thunder and lightning we had early in 
March, accompanied by a deluge of rain, caused the river again to 
overflow its banks, and once more all our low-lying “ carrs” were 
under water for many miles. In consequence of this, vast numbers 
of Peewits, which annually breed in these low grounds were driven 
away from their breeding haunts, and the eggs of such as had laid 
were of course destroyed. These low grounds called “ carrs” lie 
adjacent to the river stretching beyond Beverley northward almost 
to Driffield, a distance of about twelve miles, and are liable to be 
submerged at any moment by the bursting of the river-banks. In 
former times the river annually overflowed, and all the adjoining 
land below a certain level became swamp and bog, and in many 
places open water. Indeed, up to the beginning of the present 
century there was no means of getting the water away. Many 
hundreds of ducks used to be taken here in decoys, and even now 
no sooner do the fields get submerged than they are at once 
frequented by great numbers of wild-fowl. 
About the 11th of April, when the water in the “carrs” had 
partly subsided, a Ruff and three Reeves were seen, and the 
Ruff and one of the Reeves shot. The male bird was in 
transitional plumage, just acquiring a beautiful glossy black ruff, 
