52 NELSON : ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM REDCAR. 



the latter end of April. 13th. — A Whimbrel (Numcnius phceopus) 

 passed to the N.W. in the early morning, and on the 14th another 

 was heard whistling overhead. The first flock of Terns was noticed 

 on the 17th. On the 24th I saw two Sanderlings (Calidris arenaria) 

 in summer plumage, on the East sands ; and on the 9th of June a 

 large flock of birds, including Sanderlings, Knots (Tringa canutus), 

 Turnstones (Strepsilas interpres), Grey Plovers (Squatarola helvetica), 

 etc., was observed at 3.0 a.m. No doubt these birds, as also the 

 Whimbrels before mentioned, would be on the way North to their 

 breeding-grounds. 



June 8th. — Fifteen Geese passed to the N.W. Twelve Sheldrakes 

 (Tadorna cornutd) were seen at sea the next day. 



July 14th. — The migration from the North commenced; twelve 

 Whimbrels were observed on Salt Scar; on the 26th the first 

 Turnstones were seen on the same place, and the first Knots on the 

 27th. 



August 1 st. — About twenty Manx Shearwaters and three or four 

 immature Gannets were seen in the offing. On the 2nd, adult 

 Sanderlings, in faded plumage, were plentiful in the estuary ; two 

 small flocks of Lesser Terns (Sterna minuta) were also seen. 

 3rd. — Mr. Emerson saw three Manx Shearwaters, and shot one, 

 about two miles off Redcar. In the Tees Bay, in the afternoon, a 

 Black Tern (Hydrochelidon nigra) was flying in company with a flock 

 of the commoner species. On the 4th Mr. W. Pyman shot a Manx 

 Shearwater, and saw several others, off Redcar. 13th. — Several 

 Shearwaters, one being P. major or P. griseus, were noticed at sea. 

 The first Godwits (Limosa lapponicd) appeared at the Tees mouth. 

 1 6th. — Skuas (either Stercorarius catarrhactes or 6". pomatorhimis) 

 and Shearwaters were reported from the fishing-grounds. I shot a 

 Lesser Tern (Sterna minuta) and a Pigmy Curlew (T. subarquata) 

 at the Tees mouth. Eight Grey Plovers, with black breasts, were on 

 the sands E. of the breakwater. 19th. — N.E. wind, light, dull. 

 Several flocks of Duck (Anas boschas) and Teal (Querquedula crecca) 

 passed in the early morning. I secured two more Pigmy Curlews, 

 from a flock of about twenty, as they flew over the Scars to the 

 East of Redcar ; and the next day shot another at the same place. 

 2 1 st. — A large flock of Oystercatchers (Hcematopus ostralegus) flew 

 past to the N.W. 23rd. — Terns were abundant at sea ; nearly all 

 were Sterna fluviatilis. I also noticed a dark-plumaged Richardson's 

 Skua (Stercorarius crepidatus). 24th. — I saw several Richardson's 

 Skuas, and obtained one, the adult dark variety. Both Common and 

 Arctic Terns were numerous, the latter species (S. macrura) pre- 

 dominating. In the early part of September Richardson's Skuas 



Naturalist, 



