NOTES FROM DEVON AND CORNWALL. 459 



same time produced the strange effect. Startled by his presence, 

 the hawk on seeing him dropped the sandpiper, which, instantly 

 recovering itself, turned and made the best of its way up stream 

 again, closely followed by the hawk. The latter making a sudden 

 dash, down went the sandpiper under water like a stone, leaving 

 the disappointed hawk quite bewildered. After flying round two 

 or three times it went straight off, when the sandpiper rose to 

 the surface a long way above, under the opposite bank. 



Whimbrels were not so plentiful as usual in this locality, 

 although I saw some flying up the river as late as the 10th 

 of June. 



On July 26th Black-headed Gulls, young and old, were 

 seen in the harbour, the earliest return from their breeding 

 places I ever remember ; and on the 28th I observed several 

 Common Sandpipers on the coast, on their return after nesting 

 on the moors. 



The last Swifts were noticed on August Jlth. On the 21st 

 I visited the River Tarnar, and was pleased to see so many Herons, 

 Curlews, Dunlins, and Black-headed Gulls thus early on the 

 mud-flats. The following day I remarked several Dippers and 

 Grey Wagtails on stones and boulders in the River Plym, and 

 found Yellow Wagtails very numerous in the fields and meadows 

 near the town. Oystercatchers also were plentiful. On the 30th 

 I watched a flock of thirteen on the "West Mud" banks of the 

 Tarnar. 



On September 1st I saw a very beautiful White Wagtail 

 (Motacilla alba); the dorsal plumage was very light, and of the 

 purest grey I ever remember to have seen in a bird of this 

 species. On the 18th I took a trip to Brent, and passing the 

 mud-flats of the Laira found them alive with old and young 

 Herring Gulls, and a good sprinkling of Herons and other 

 Waders. On the River Avon, at Brent, too, Dippers and Grey 

 Wagtails were numerous. Many Kingfishers, I am sorry to say, 

 found their way about this date to the birdstuffer's, chiefly young 

 birds of the year. A. Water Rail was captured, which had but 

 one wing, and yet was in capital condition. A rudiment of the 

 bone of the missing wing was discernible close to the body, but 

 so smooth and rounded had it become, that if ever the bird had 

 possessed the wing at all it must have been a considerable time 

 before its capture. 



