326 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
ON THE SPRING MIGRATION OF WADERS ALONG 
THE EAST COAST IN 1881. 
By Jonn CorDEAUX. 
Havine during the past spring spent several hours daily 
on the coast of North-East Lincolnshire and Holderness, at 
the time the shore-birds were passing northwards, I have been 
able to take the following notes, which, without further remark, 
I now give in the order of their occurrence. 
With the exception of some rather large flocks of Dunlin, 
none of our common shore-birds appeared before May 11th, when 
I saw Curlew, Whimbrel, and Godwit on the Humber foreshore. 
A pair of the latter feeding near the creek were male and female, 
the former in full summer plumage, with the under parts very 
dark red; the female, considerably the larger of the two, had the 
head and foreneck dashed with rufous, but with this exception, 
compared with the male, was very light coloured, a greyish yellow 
predominating. Near the creek end were a pair of Wild Ducks 
and a Sheldrake. On the 13th Whimbrel were in full force, both 
on the muds and in the coast marshes. On the 16th there was a 
strong gale from N.W. to N.: on this day I saw the first Grey 
Plover, two pairs, the males in full plumage, females less advanced, 
and the upper parts marbled with yellowish ochre and ash-grey, 
showing much lighter than the brown-black and white of their 
partners. I may here add that in every case I make a point of 
examining the birds through a powerful telescope. With the Grey 
Plover were some Dunlin in summer dress, and a Ringed Dotterel, 
the first seen this spring. The Grey Plover were feeding on small 
red worms, which they extracted, wading slowly, tarsal-joint deep, 
in the ooze. Hooded Crows were seen near Spurn on the 20th, 
and on the previous day a party of seven in the adjoining parish 
to this—an unusually late stay of these marauders. On the 21st, 
S.E. to 8., hot sun and cold wind, nothing but Ringed Dotterel 
and black-bellied Dunlins on the flats. 
During the second week in May flocks of Dotterel (Hudromias 
morinellus) were seen in our south-east marshes, but I was not 
fortunate in coming across them. A “trip” of about twenty was 
seen near Spurn about the middle of the month, and near Dim- 
lington another “trip” of about thirty close to the coast. The 
