THE ZooLocist—JANvuARY, 1876. 4765 
yards farther off, and, as I thought, pitched in the shallow water near 
where the bank was just appearing at the first of ebb, but on going round to 
watch them again I was surprised to see that they had swam away about fifty 
yards from where they had first alighted, and while I continued watching 
them, for nearly half an hour, they kept swimming head to wind, and rising 
on the little waves as buoyantly as ducks, thus proving that they could 
make right good use of their half-webbed feet, although Montagu says that 
they have never been observed to take to the water for the purpose of 
swimming, and that the palmated feet seem only intended to support them on 
the mud. The avocet (according to William Thompson) appears to be of 
very rare occurrence in Ireland: he mentions only nine birds having been 
met with from the year 1767, when the first Irish known specimen was 
shot by Mr. Bevin in the lotts near the North Wall, Dublin, up to January, 
1848, when a pair were shot by Mr. William Crauford, of Lakelands, in 
Cork Harbour, and which birds are now, I believe, in the very fine collection 
of Irish birds of Dr. Harvey, of St. Patrick’s Place, Cork.—Robert Warren, 
jun.; Moyview, Ballina, November 16, 1875. 
Avocet and Pectoral Sandpiper in Durham.— In his ‘ Birds of Nor- 
thumberland and Durham,’ Mr. Hancock says of the avocet, “only one 
taken” (p. 124). ‘It has, however, occurred at Tees-mouth twice or three 
times. A birdstuffer and shooter at Stockton, who knows it perfectly, told 
me that he once saw one shot, but could not induce the man—who was, 
T have no doubt, a pitman on very high wages—to part with it for money. 
The fellow preferred to eat it, and gave him the legs to remember it by. 
Many a rarity is consigned to the spit through ignorance, but in this case 
it was wilful waste of a rare bird. Mr. Hancock also only gives one 
occurrence of the pectoral sandpiper; but I can refer to two other instances 
—one near Hartlepool in October, 1841 (Yarrell, ‘ British Birds,’ Ist ed., 
Preface), and one in or near the Tees-mouth, August, 1853 (Morris's 
‘Naturalist,’ 1853, p. 275). Probably they were both really killed at 
Tees-mouth, which is very near West Hartlepool, and which at low tide 
presents a wide expanse of mud, formerly (before Middlesborough sprung 
into existence) more attractive to waders than itis now. ‘The existence of 
Mr. Hancock’s work may perhaps not be generally known to your readers. 
It is by far the most complete catalogue which has yet appeared on the 
birds of the North of England; yet I have seen no reviews of it, and it 
was only on entering Quarritch’s shop the other day that I accidentally 
learnt of its existence.—J. H. Gurney, jun. 
Ducks and Partridges laying in the same Nest.— A friend of mine 
found a French partridge’s nest with fourteen eggs and three tame duck’s 
eggs in it, which is an interesting parallel to the French partridge’s and 
teal’s eggs being found together, which Mr. Stevenson wrote to you of (S. S. 
2869). In the former it was probably the partridge which had laid to the 
SECOND SERIES—VOL, XI. F 
