VOL. vn.] NOTES. 121 



quite free from weeds we should certainly have seen it if it 

 had been swimming about before. Therefore, I think it is 

 clear that this young bird must have been upon its mother's 

 back when she dived and came up again. After this we 

 watched the three birds for some time, and saw the smaller 

 young one jump off and on its mother's back and feed on flies 

 meanwhile. When alarmed the little bird at once took 

 refuge there, crouching down between her wings so as to 

 become invisible, and off she swam with it to a more secure 

 distance. No doubt this is a general habit of this species, 

 as it is of the Grebes, but I have not myself observed it before. 

 The two young birds both appeared to belong to the same 

 mother, but how can the discrepancy in age be accounted for ? 



JoKsr R. B. Masefield. 



BIRDS IN NORFOLK IN 1912.— Mr. J. H. Gurney's 

 well-known annual report on the ornithology of Norfolk, con- 

 tains a number of interesting items for the year 1912 {ZooL, 

 1913, pp. 161-81). Of breeding-records the following are 

 important : — 



Little Owl {Athene n. noctua). — ^Mr. N. Tracey was shown 

 four eggs and a photograph of some young ones taken not far 

 from Lynn (p. 162), from which it would seem that Norfolk 

 must now be added to the growing list of counties in which 

 this bird breeds. 



Bittern {Botaurus s. stellaris). — ^We are delighted to read 

 (pp. 170 and 175) that the Bittern was again present in 1912 

 in the place where it bred in 1911 (c/. B.B., Vol. V., pp. 90-97). 

 Mr. Gurney himself heard it " booming " on April 29th, and 

 carefully describes the note. On August 21st Mr. Robert 

 Gurney approached within an oar's length of an old bird 

 with a " completely fledged young one standing by it." 



Oysteecatcher {Hcematopus o. ostralegus). — ^A pair bred at 

 Blakeney (p. 172). 



Common Sandpiper {Tringa hypoleuca). — On June 27th 

 Mr. Falcon was walking by the Bure at Coltishall when his 

 dog brought out of some herbage, about fifty yards from the 

 river, a nestling in down of the Common Sandpiper. On 

 going to the spot in the afternoon Mr. Gurney and his friends 

 failed to find the young again, but they saw the parent birds, 

 which betrayed great anxiety (p. 173). The Common Sand- 

 piper has only once before (Hickling, 1897) been proved to 

 breed in Norfolk or Suffolk. 



Common Curlew {Numenius a. arquata). — ^Mr. N. Tracey 

 again reports the Common Curlew as breeding near Lynn 

 (c/. antea, Vol. IV., p. 88, Vol. VI., p. 25). 



