NOTES FROM DEVON AND CORNWALL. 207 
lower mandible was of a pure and vivid orange-red, without a 
trace of the dark spot. 
Two immature Red-throated Divers were brought to a Stone- 
house birdstuffer on February lst, and on the same day I observed 
six Northern Divers swimming and diving very near each other 
in Plymouth Sound. I am glad to add that Red-throated Divers 
are now becoming more numerous than they have been for some 
years past. After severe winters they used formerly to appear 
sometimes in great numbers, and on such occasions many 
remained on our coasts until they had assumed their full 
breeding plumage, although they usually leave us before that 
time. Several Goldeneyes and Scaups were to be seen in the 
markets at this date. 
On February 4th seven Herons, large flocks of Gulls (Larus 
ridibundus), Lapwings, and Curlews were congregated on Chelson 
Meadow, near the banks of the Laira. After the severe weather 
set in, Kingfishers disappeared. Razorbills were then very 
numerous in the Sound, although none, so far as I could observe, 
showed any signs of assuming the breeding dress. ‘Two immature 
Black-throated Divers were killed, one on the St. Germains River, 
and the other, I believe, in the Sound. I have never yet seen or 
heard of an adult bird of this species having been obtained near 
Plymouth, and the only one approaching to that state was killed 
many years ago by my brother near the Devil’s Point, Stonehouse. 
The upper plumage of this bird was nearly of a uniform black 
or dusky, with a few square light spots just appearing on the 
scapulars, and the sides of the breast near the bottom of the 
neck beautifully striped with black and white, but without, as far 
as I can remember, showing any signs of the purple-black patch 
on the throat peculiar to old birds in the breeding season. Some 
Hawfinches and Bramblings, both uncommon species in this 
neighbourhood, were killed about this date. 
The weather on the 10th February was very stormy and wet, 
but not cold, and a large flock of grey geese—of what species 
I could hardly ascertain—flew down our harbour and across the 
Sound towards the south. Many flocks of geese of different kinds 
were seen frequenting the waters and valleys near Ermington, 
not far from Plymouth, and several individuals were killed. On 
the 25th, weather bright and warm, I heard Herring Gulls uttering 
their spring or breeding cries. 
