308 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



cutting figures on the ice, and then dropping down suddenly, dodging in 

 and out of trees, and flying in circles and triangles. I watched them for 

 nearly half an hour, and their morning parade being ended they collected 

 together. Curious to say, 1 have never seen but one old bird at a time. As 

 to their extraordinary liking for a peculiar locality, there is a small stream 

 within ten yards of the carriage-drive, and planted ; the centre of it is soft 

 aud muddy. It generally holds a cock. For curiosity's sake, on the 17th 

 July, I walked down to try for one, and found two, evidently residents. 

 There must be something very good there to attract them in this way. — 

 R. E. Reeves (Capard, Rosenally, Queen's Co.). 



Notes from the Northumbrian Loughs. — The Loughs (pronounced 

 Luff) of Northumberland, or as they are there called the Lakes, are well 

 worth visiting both for Natural History and scenery. On June 20th I left 

 Newcastle by an early train for Bardon Mill Station, on the Newcastle and 

 Carlisle Railway. By half-past nine we had reached the first lough, very 

 appropriately called Crag Lough. On the north side of the tarn the land 

 slopes gently away, but on the south side high and steep cliffs rise almost 

 from the edge of the water, on which a pair of Coots with their young were 

 swimming. A solitary pair of Black-headed Gulls served to remind us 

 that we were not far distant from a gullery. One of my companions caught 

 sight of a hawk as it rose from the ground, but failed to identify it. We 

 found it had been feeding on a Rock Dove, which was still warm. These 

 doves, as well as Jackdaws, breed in great numbers amongst the crags. 

 Climbing another hill we visited Greenlee Lough, which is one of the 

 largest. In it was a Coot's nest with five eggs, a few feet from the bank. 

 A pair of Sandpipers evidently had their nest somewhere near the edge of 

 the water, from the noise and fuss they made on our approach. Three fine 

 Blackcocks rose from the thick herbage of fern and bilberry which clothrs 

 the steep ascent on the south side. They winged their way up the length 

 of the lough, and were at last lost to sight in the distance. Following the 

 general direction of flight which some Black-headed Gulls took, brought us 

 to Hallypike Lough, which is very small, but by far the most interesting, 

 as beiug a breeding haunt of these birds. The sight, looking down the 

 hillside, was one to be remembered. The small mountain tarn was a living 

 mass of white bodies which, as we drew nearer, rose in clouds, uttering 

 their cries. All that could do so, circled overhead, whilst the young scuttled 

 to the rushes or gathered together in the middle of the pool. A few yards 

 from the south side was an island, to which I waded out middle-deep in 

 mud and water. On reaching the island I was disappointed to find no firm 

 ground, but merely trampled down rushes, with a nest every few feet. The 

 nests were masses of filth, baked dry by the sun. Slowly drawing myself 

 up I succeeded in getting a knee iuto one nest, and, by dint of lying flat on 

 my face over a reeking gulf of dirt, I laid my hands on two nests with 



