60 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Brown-headed Gulls, Larus ridibundus, one of which had com- 

 pletely got his' dark-brown head dress. Another showed a most 

 peculiar state of change ; the head, the ground-colour of which 

 was white, was crossed with two narrow dark bands, one in front 

 of the eye extending across the forehead to beneath the lores, 

 the other across the occiput to below the auriculars. Several 

 Pochards, Fuligula ferina, were shot on the Humber in January, 

 and amongst them some old males, which I always consider quite 

 an exceptional occurrence on our waters ; the majority of those 

 obtained here in the winter are females or young of both sexes. 



Jan. 26th. Two pairs of Mistletoe Thrushes came to the lawn 

 to-day, their first appearance since they left in the autumn. 



February 4th. Examined three Bar-tailed Godwits shot on 

 the coast near Cleethopes. Comparatively few remain after the 

 autumn migration in August and September. 



Feb. 8th. There are thirty-eight Scaup off the sluice, males 

 and females in exactly equal proportion — nineteen and nineteen — 

 and swimming in pairs ; the former have glossy dark heads and 

 necks shot with green, their wives with the same parts a rich- 

 looking velvet-brown with a frontal band of white, and these 

 contrasting colours as they swim side by side have a very pretty 

 effect. 



Feb. 24th. Out of some Knot brought up from the coast 

 to-day I found one which had the breast and abdomen marked 

 with large detached spots of a faded red, evidently the remains of 

 the plumage of the previous summer. 



Feb. 25th. Lapwings are paired; first Pied Wagtails seen; 

 many Meadow Pipits in Humber Marshes. 



April 5th. Wheatears very numerous, but all appear to be 

 males ; several I noticed perched on old stalks of brussels-sprouts 

 and cauliflowers cultivated in the open field. 



April 7th. Observed both Redpoles and Coal Tits searching 

 for food amidst the green tufts and rosy plumes of the opening 

 larch. A pair of the former nested with us this summer, high 

 up in the corner of an old hedgerow abutting on one of the large 

 marsh drains. 



May 10th. The Dunlins on the foreshore have now got their 

 summer livery and the black pectoral patch. There are about a 

 score of Grey Plovers left, more or less in summer plumage, and 

 a few Whimbrels and Curlews. Carrion Crow in marsh sitting on 



