212 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
a very fine specimen of Bewick’s Swan, which had been shot in the Tees, 
in the hands of a Middlesborough taxidermist. On February 6th I saw 
four Swans, three white and one grey, on the north side of the estuary ; 
the example which had been obtained on February 5th was shot from this 
herd. Several Glaucous and Iceland Gulls were shot during the winter, 
but chiefly immature birds. I have seen one of the Glaucous and two of 
the Iceland species (old birds) which were obtained near Redcar ; one of the 
latter was shot by a friend of mine east of Redcar on December 19th. On 
November 21st, while off in a boat near Redcar with a friend, we shot a 
Black-throated Diver, a female bird, in the plumage of the second year. 
Several Puffins and a great many Little Auks were washed ashore during 
the heavy gales from the sea, killed by the violence of the waves or by 
starvation. I have seen at least a dozen of the latter species which were 
picked up dead on the beach. On the 14th and 15th November | picked 
up each day a Puffin and Little Auk. On the 16th I found a Puffin on 
Coatham sands, and on the 18th a Little Auk on the sands east of Redcar. 
IT picked up a Little Auk on Coatham sands on the 28th, and on the same 
day a Puffin near Redcar. On the 23rd January a Little Auk found near 
Redcar, and another on the 25th. I shot two while in a boat off Tees 
Bay on the 27th, and saw one flying about the same time. Picked up two 
east of Redcar on February 5th. These little northern visitors seem to 
have been plentiful on the north-east coast, as reports from different places 
testify. Several were found in the fields near Redcar, and one in a yard 
near, Middlesborough. The Razorbills also suffered very much from the 
severe weather, numbers having been found dead on the beach. During 
December immense flocks of Fieldfares, Redwings, and other small birds 
passed, flying towards the Tees. From the 9th to the 12th the flocks 
chiefly consisted of Redwings with a few Fieldfares, but from the 17th to 
the 21st the Fieldfares predominated and Redwings were comparatively 
few. Altogether I should say that several thousands of these two species 
must have passed Redcar during the fortnight they were observed. On the 
12th December the sands and mudflats at the Tees-mouth were covered 
with Golden Plover; the next day they had almost disappeared, only a few 
small flocks remaining. Snipe were fairly plentiful in the water-courses 
and small pools of open water; they were for the most part, however, in 
poor condition. Woodcocks and Short-eared Owls seem to have missed us 
in their migration, probably crossing farther south. An Owl was shot on 
the South Gare Breakwater on August 31st; five more were obtained at 
the same place during November. I shot one on January 14th. About a 
dozen Woodcocks were observed. In a general way both these species visit 
us in considerable numbers during October and November. On the 6th 
February I shot a Great Northern Diver, a second year’s female, near the 
mouth of the River Tees. An old male bird of this species was reported to 
