456 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Islands, some years ago, though considerably smaller. The egg that 

 burst was certainly an Arctic Tern's egg, as was the one hatching. 

 We saw either the same or another pair of Lesser Terns again, 

 and they evidently had eggs or young near at hand; for they were 

 very anxious, at times flying close over us and screaming, but we 

 did not succeed in finding either eggs or young. 



We saw a few Ring Dotterels, but did not find eggs or young; 

 two young Black-headed Gulls just as we came on the beach ; 

 and a good many Herring Gulls and Cormorants. 



On the opposite side of the Fleet to the Chesil Beach, on some 

 rising ground, is a moderate sized rabbit-warren, which seemed to 

 contain only white rabbits — at least, we could see no others ; but 

 of course the white ones were most conspicuous, and there might 

 have been some of the ordinary colour which escaped our notice. 

 I do not remember having seen any reference to this warren 

 before, and do not know how the breed was originally established, 

 or whether any care has been taken to perpetuate it. 



On August (ith we left Abbotsbury for Lyme, a very hilly drive 

 all the way, and not very easy to find at first. On the open down 

 over the cliffs between Abbotsbury and Bridport we saw a Hen 

 Harrier, searching probably for young Peewits, as it was quartering 

 the ground very steadily, and sometimes in the course of its hunt 

 coming quite close enough to us to be identified even without the 

 help of a field -glass. A little lower down towards the sea we saw 

 another Harrier engaged in the same way, probably also hunting 

 for young Peewits, which no doubt were somewhere about, though 

 on this occasion we did not see any ; but in 1877 earlier in the year 

 I had seen near the same place a good many old Peewits about, 

 which evidently had nests. I fancy Hen Harriers are rather fond 

 of young Peewits, for when riding over Dartmoor some years ago I 

 saw an adult male Hen Harrier hunting over some marshy ground 

 much in the same way, and close by 1 found a brood of young 

 Peewits, not quite able to fly, crouching in the heather. So close 

 did they lie, that I dismounted and caught one. These or some 

 other Hen Harriers might, as I have suggested, be responsible for 

 the remains of the Terns on the Chesil Beach, for the breeding- 

 place was at no great distance from the spot where we saw them. 

 We saw nothing worth noting in the natural-history way at Lyme, 

 nor on our drive home from Lyme the next day. 



