Wade: East: Vorkshtre Bird Notes. 421 
be common, it is scarcely ever heard or seen now. The cause 
for this is difficult to understand, as the conditions as to food, &c., 
have not changed. 
On goth May a Starling’s nest with eight eggs, all of one 
type, was found in Burton Constable woods in a decayed tree- 
stump far from any other breeding place of the species. This is 
the third year is succession of the birds’ laying the same number. 
On 11th May a common Buzzard was seen at Burton 
Constable. 
A pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers has been at a 
certain locality in Holderness all this season. 
In early May a large flock of Dotterel was seen on the low 
lands between Easington and the Humber, and several were shot. 
The Act for the Protection of Wild Birds seems to be generally a 
dead letter, owing to the supineness of local authorities. On 
May rith-18th a flock of about 100 Dotterel frequented the wolds 
near Bempton, and on 2nd June 30 or 4o of these birds were seen 
at Bempton Cliffs. Possibly the heavy snowstorms in the north 
prevented their going to the nesting grounds. 
For game birds, with the exception of the Grouse, which did 
well in North Yorks., the present season has been most disastrous. 
Partridges hatched first clutches well, but the chicks died almost 
immediately, the unusually long grass in wet cold weather being 
too much for them. The birds, however, in some cases reared 
second broods, for cheepers were seen up to the middle of Sep- 
tember. The game bags show that not more than 1o per cent. of 
young birds have been shot this year. Pheasants in the wild 
state, on the other hand, hatched badly, many eggs being left in 
the nests, but the chicks actually hatched did fairly well. Among 
hand reared chicks the mortality was great, the season being 
reported the worst since 1863. 
At Spurn Point on July r4th, two pairs of Ringed Plover still 
had eggs, viz., three just hatching and four fresh, and the number 
of birds about had visibly increased. The Lesser Tern on the 
same date were carrying fish, about 100 of them being in the air 
together, but the young, which would be in hiding on the beach, 
were invisible ; three odd eggs were seen. The common or Arctic 
Tern, which haunted the district all spring, was not visible. 
The Sheld Duck is said to have reared four or five broods 
here this season, but in any case this bird shows a great increase 
in the Humber district of late years, probably owing to the de- 
struction of its former feeding haunts at Crosby Warren, Lincs. 
HornsEA Mere.—The keeper, J. Taylor, reports that the 
1907 )ecember 1, 
