84 NELSON : ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM REDCAR. 



9th. — N.E. gale, very stormy. The first Woodcock (Scolopax 

 rusticola) and Short -eared Owl (Asio accipitrinus) came over. 

 1 8th. — Thirty or forty Pomatorhine Skuas, one only being adult, 

 passed to the N.W. Three Velvet Scoters {CEdemia fusca) flew 

 past ; one was shot, and proved to be an immature male. Two 

 Fulmar Petrels (Fulmants glacialis), one a fine adult male, were 

 picked up alive on the beach, having been driven ashore by the 

 storm. On the 12th twenty-eight Geese passed to the N.W. On 

 the 13th a Long-tailed Duck (Harelda glacialis) and two immature 

 Pomatorhine Skuas were shot, and an immature Ringed Guillemot 

 was picked up alive along the E. sands. The storm continued until 

 he 1 6th and after it abated Mr. Woodhouse and I went off in a 

 boat in search of Ducks. We found an immense flock of Common 

 Scoters to the E. of Redcar, and, for several days, had capital sport. 

 Mr. Woodhouse, Mr. Emerson, and myself in seven days, between 

 the 1 8th October and the 19th November, killed and gathered 

 ninety-three Common and two Velvet Scoters ; a great many of the 

 wounded birds were lost owing to their diving capabilities and 

 toughness of skin. The biggest bag made in one day was on the 

 5th November, when Mr. Emerson and I gathered one Velvet and 

 twenty-five Common Scoters. Long-tailed Ducks were also very 

 plentiful throughout the season. Between the 13th October and the 

 end of February at least forty examples have been killed to my 

 knowledge. I shot two myself — one on the 31st October and 

 the other on the 17th November, both being young males ; indeed, 

 all those which I examined were immature birds. From the 

 middle of October to the middle of November there was a 

 constant stream of migration, in varying numbers, of Larks, 

 Hooded Crows (Corz>us comix), Peewits (Vanellus vulgaris), and 

 various small birds, such as Chaffinches (Frifigilla cadebs), Black- 

 birds {Tardus meruld), Redbreasts (Erithacus rubecula), with a few 

 Short-eared Owls and Woodcock. On several days, towards the end 

 of October, Larks, Hooded Crows and Peewits passed incessantly, 

 from daylight to the middle of the afternoon. Oct. 19th. — The last 

 Terns were observed flying towards the S.E. 25th. — A male Ring- 

 ouzel {Turdus torquaius) was shot in Bilsdale. 31st. — I saw four 

 Redwings (71 iliacus) passing in a S.W. direction. 



November 9th. — I was at the Tees mouth in a boat, and shot a 

 male Red-throated Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis), with most of the 

 red feathers on the throat remaining. 12th.— A Great Spotted Wood- 

 pecker (yDcndrocopus major) was observed in some gardens in front 

 of Fishermen's Square. 16th. — A large flock of about five hundred 

 Geese was reported by the fishermen who had been some fou r or five 



Naturalist, 



