Pefch : Notes on Ho/dcnicss Birds. 4 1 



Carrion Crows breed unmolested in isolated spinneys or in trees 

 in the hedg-erows, and rookeries are common, but the Mag"pie 

 nests only in one. remote corner, and I have not vet seen 

 a Woodpecker or a Jay. As in all estuarine districts, the 

 Kestrel is the common hawk, often nestini^^ in a deserted 

 Carrion Crow's nest ; the Sparrow Hawk is scarcer, but may 

 be seen fairly frequently. For many years the Kestrel and the 

 Barn Owl lived with the Jackdaws in Hedon Church tower. 

 The Short-eared Owl — ' Woodcock Owl ' — is frequently shot in 

 autumn, being" flushed from turnips when Partridg-e shooting-, and 

 the Corncrake often shares the same fate. This bird nests late 

 in Holderness, so that the egg^s are frequently broken by the 

 reaper in July (Hedon, 23rd July 1895, ^th July 1899; Aid- 

 borough, 15th July 1895). T"'""^ Water Rail is shot late in the 

 year (Kelsey, 15th December 1899; Aldborough, 30th December 

 1899), and a Spotted Crake was shot at Aldborough, November 

 1892. The Red-legged Partridge, as far as I have seen, does 

 not occur in Holderness.'"' At other times the Ring Dove is 

 shot in large numbers without causing any diminution ; it is 

 always called the Stock Dove, but the true Stock Dove is very 

 local (Fitling). Similarly the ' Blue Rock' is not Coluinba livia, 

 but an escaped domestic bird. The Turtle Dove has been seen 

 at Aldborough in August and September. 



But it is along the shore, amongst the waders and sea 

 birds, that the ornithologist will find most to interest him. In 

 the nesting season we have the Lapwing, Redshank, Ring-ed 

 Plover, Oystercatcher, Cormorant, and Lesser Tern, though 

 three of these are then found only at Spurn, and the Cor- 

 morant's home cannot be permanent. Lapwing and Redshank 

 are abundant, and the latter is certainly increasing, probably 

 because its nest is not as easily found as the Lapwing's and 

 its eggs thus escape the notice of the ' Plover egg ' collectors. 

 On Saltend Common the Lapwing's eggs are not laid in any 

 convenient hole : the construction of the nest occupies consider- 

 able time, and several are commenced and left unfinished. The 

 grass is first pulled up over a circle four inches in diameter and 

 left round the bare patch till dry; it is then placed round the 

 hole, and the bottom and sides are moulded into a saucer-shaped 

 hollow with its edge slightly raised above the surrounding- level. 

 Sometimes bents are placed across, all in one direction, and 

 these, projecting on either side, make the nest much more 

 conspicuous. The Redshank, however, usually makes a bare 



* See The Xaturalist, July 1902, p. 223. 

 1903 February i. 



