324 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



about Yarmouth on or about the 24th with the Buzzards; and a 

 "blue-and-red Hawk," seen near the avenue at Northrepps on the 

 same day, was probably an adult male Montagu's Harrier. On 

 the 36th an adult female Peregrine was shot at Blakeney. On the 

 13th of October four large Hawks, possibly Buzzards, were seen 

 at Northrepps, apparently fighting in the air ; the last, apparently, 

 of the invading host. On the 10th an Osprey was shot, at Flitcham, 

 a Peregrine and an immature Hobby somewhere in the county on 

 the 8th, and an immature Marsh Harrier at Yarmouth on the 15th. 

 Probably the first Merlin of the season was shot from Breydon 

 Wall on the 7th of November ; and a Barn Owl, caught by a boy 

 in a fence at Scratby, on the coast, was no doubt a migrant; it 

 was dark in tint and much spotted. The first Rough-legged 

 Buzzard of this winter put in an appearance at Somerton on the 

 5th, and another was shot at Flegg Burgh, also near Yarmouth, 

 on the 22nd, and one close by at Fritton, in Suffolk, on the 15th ; 

 and an adult female Hen Harrier at Hollesby on the 26th. The 

 record of the year, raptorially, closed with the death of a fine 

 young Sea Eagle (of course proclaimed as a Golden Eagle till 

 satisfactorily identified), which was shot early in December, 

 between Sedgef'onl ami Holme-next-the-Sea, close to Hunstanton. 

 One of these birds frequented for some days the park and lake 

 at Kimberley in the autumn, but, thanks to the protection of 

 the noble proprietor of the estate, remained unmolested till it 

 voluntarily took its departure. 



Migratory Waders. — The intense frost and deep snow-drifts 

 from the middle to near the end of January were not favourable 

 for waders on Breydon, or any other part of the coast. Even 

 Dunlins were scarce, and a few Sanderlings, Knots, and Golden 

 Plover, with an occasional God wit or two, were about all that 

 the gunners brought in ; but during the terrific gale on our east 

 coast on the 18th, swarms of Snipe and Dunlin, as well as wild- 

 fowl of various kinds swept down the coast on their passage 

 southward. A Purple Sandpiper was shot at Yarmouth on the 

 10th; and a Green Sandpiper was seen about the same date at 

 Taverham, near Norwich. So soon as the frost began to break, 

 by the first week in February, our markets were full of Dunlins, 

 Knots, Redshanks, an Oystercatcher or two, and various wildfowl, 

 all in wretched plight, and lots of Waterhens in a shocking state 

 of emaciation, as one dealer remarked, " not worth picking up." 



