114 {THE ZOOLOGIST. 
exposed for sale in the market, and a Snow Bunting was killed 
on the 26th. Snipes, both “full” and Jacks, were plentiful, one 
of the former weighing six ounces. 
November lst was very cold, with the wind N.E. True to 
their time, Black Redstarts made their appearance, and several 
were caught, and doubtless starved to death by the birdcatchers, 
who, I am vexed to say, have become a nuisance in the neigh- 
bourhood of Plymouth. One Redstart was killed by a coast- 
guard man with a single ball from his rifle. This man is a 
gunnery instructor, and the best shot I ever met with. Divers 
and Cormorants, swimming within any reasonable distance, stand 
not the least chance of their lives with him. I have seen him 
disable a Shag with the first ball, and knock it almost out of the 
water with the second. He sometimes shoots at a Kingfisher 
sitting on a rock, and aims so that the ball may not directly 
strike the bird, but so nearly that the splinters of the rock kill 
it without much injury to the plumage. The Redstart’s head, in 
the case above referred to, was cut completely off. I once saw 
another man, a gunnery instructor also, kill a Speckled Diver 
with a ball between three and four hundred yards off at least. 
Indeed few people have an idea of the perfection these men have 
arrived at in the use of the rifle. 
During the first week of November a pair of Scaups, a Scoter, 
and an old male Cornish Chough were killed and brought to 
Plymouth for preservation, and there were some Grey Plovers and 
Knots in the market. A warrener from Dartmoor told me that a 
Peregrine Falcon had for a long time frequented the place, and 
that he had often seen it knock down Curlews and Wood Pigeons 
on the moor, but that he could never manage to get a shot at it. 
A Dartford Warbler was killed and sent up from Cornwall by 
Mr. D. Stephens; also a very pretty variety of the Water Rail, 
with a pure white patch covering the back of its head. About 
the same time I examined a beautifully marked brown and white 
variety of the common Thrush. Several Northern Divers were 
killed in the neighbourhood during November, and I heard 
Whimbrels flying up the harbour by night—rather late in the 
season for these birds. Kingfishers were very numerous, and 
almost daily killed, I am sorry to say, by gunners. A fine Merlin, 
two Northern Divers, a Crested Grebe, and three Herons were 
brought in to a Stonehouse birdstuffer. Some Turtle Doves also 
