98 LOFTHOUSE : BIRD-NOTES FROM THE TEES DISTRICT. 



at a very rapid pace for so small a bird. On the 25th I noticed 

 three or four darker birds in the flock of Terns ; these were probably 

 Black Terns {Hydrochelidon nigra). On this date I picked up a fine 

 Turnstone in winter plumage. About the end of August 1 heard 

 of two Little Stints being shot at the Durham side of the Tees 

 estuary, and one at Redcar. Some Sandwich Terns {Stertia 

 catitiaca) were also shot at Redcar. 



About the second week in September I noticed a flock of Terns 

 about ten miles up the river, apparently Arctic or Common Terns, 

 or probably both. About the 17th September an immature Ruff" 

 {Machetes pugnax) was shot in Cowpen Marshes, and on the i8th 

 two Spotted Crakes {Porzana maruetta). On a visit to the Tees 

 Breakwater in the early morning of the i8th September, I noticed 

 four or five Cormorants {Fhalacrocorax carbd) fishing on the sea side 

 of the breakwater close in to the shore ; this is a favourite fishing- 

 ground for Cormorants. The morning was bright and the birds 

 seemed singularly large as they circled round and round, every now 

 and again dashing with lightning rapidity into the seething water, 

 sending the spray several feet high, and emerging again in a few 

 moments. A few hours later these same birds may be seen sitting 

 on the rocks opposite Huntcliffe, with their wings spread out to the 

 sun to dry, and presenting a very odd and curious spectacle. 

 Numbers of Gulls and a few Skuas were aliout, and we witnessed 

 some very pretty chases, the latter invariably seeming to effect his 

 purpose, as evidenced by his sudden drop after a severe chase, to 

 intercept the fish given up by the (iulL On this same morning 

 the sands between the breakwater and Redcar were alive with 

 Wheatears {Saxicola cenanthe) and Pied Wagtails {Motacilla lugubris), 

 particularly the former, and there was evidently a migration taking 

 place overhead as well ; numbers of Larks seemed to be coming in 

 from the north or north-west, and passing on inland. 



Great flocks of Lapwings ( Vanelliis vulgaris) and Starlings 

 {Sturnus vulgaris) have been about this district all the winter, owing, 

 I suppose, to the very open weather we have had. A Wryneck was 

 shot in the district in the late autumn, and a Rose-coloured Pastor 

 {Faster roseus) was shot out of a flock of Starlings at Redcar, and 

 came into the hands of Mr. T. H. Nelson. Fieldfares {Turdus 

 pilaris), Redwings {T. iliacus), and Hooded Crows {Corvus comix) 

 have been here in their usual numbers. 



Of the Sand-Grouse {Syrrhaptes paradoxus) which favoured this 

 district with their presence in some numbers during the late invasion, 

 I have heard nothing lately, and I question very much whether there 

 is one alive in the district. 



Naturalist, 



