4 2 



SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



Accipiter nisus Lin. Sparrow-hawk. Resident 

 and common. The great disparity in the sizes of 

 the sexes, the male being little more than half the 

 size of the female, has often led the former to have 

 been mistaken for the merlin (Falco aesalori). I 

 have on several occasions seen this bird strike at 

 its quarry. It does not hover nearly so long as 

 the kestrel (Falco tinnmiculus). 



Falco peregriniw Tunstall. Peregrine Falcon. 

 Rare but resident. It occurs all along this part of 

 the coast. On June 7, 1899, one near Lee Abbey, 

 which is about a mile and a half from here, hovered 

 over and then struck a rabbit on the ground, 

 where it remained — I suppose, to feed upon its 

 prey. 



Falco aesalon Tunstall. Merlin. I saw a pah- of 

 these birds on March 25th. 1897, flying about the 

 dwarf w T oods which are on each side of Lee Bay. 

 They occasionally settled on the ground. I have not 

 seen any since. 



Falco tmmmcidw Lin. Kestrel. Common and 

 resident, the most frequent hawk of the district. 



Note. — On March 22nd, 1898, 1 saw a large bird 

 in the Valley of Rocks which I at first thought 

 was a buzzard, but subsequently it appeared to be 

 a species of Circus, one of the harriers. It settled 

 on a low wall and a bush. Its head was pale buff, 

 mantle mottled brown like that of a barn owl (Strix 

 jiammea), and pale whitish buff over the rump. 

 When settled, it was about the size of a large hen 

 pheasant. The beak was not that of a buzzard. 

 I could not get nearer to it than about forty yards, 

 when it flew slowly a short distance and then 

 settled again. I saw this bird about 10 A.M., and 

 it had not moved far from the same place on my 

 return about 2.40 p.m. If it was a harrier, it could 

 only have been Circus aeruginosus, the marsh 

 harrier, a bird now extremely scarce not only in 

 these parts, but in the whole of England. 



Ph ala crocorax carho Lin. Cormorant. Com- 

 mon and resident, but not abundant. This bird 

 has a habit of perching on a post, then extending 

 its wings and keeping them in that position for some 

 time. I have not seen here the crested or green 

 cormorant (P. graeulus Lin.). The latter bird is 

 sometimes called the " scart," but I fancy this 

 name is applied to either species in different 

 localities. 



Ardea cinerea Lin. Heron. I have only seen 

 this bird on two or three occasions. There is no 

 heronry, to my knowledge, within twenty miles 

 from here. 



Querquedula crecca Lin. Teal. One killed at 

 Brendon, about four miles distant, in the winter of 

 1899-1900. 



Coluviba palumbus Lin. Wood-pigeon. Very 

 common and resident. 



Columba livia G-melin. Rock-pigeon. I have 

 only seen this bird, as a certainty, upon two or 

 three occasions. Their close resemblance to some 

 varieties of our tame pigeons, which are, of course, 



all descended from this species, makes a deci- 

 sion rather difficult ; but the wild species never 

 settles on a tree or hedge, and the tamo ones very 

 rarely. 



Phasianus colchicus Lin. Pheasant. Common 

 and resident. 



Pcrdix cinerea Latham. Partridge. Common 

 and resident. 



Galliniila chloropys Lin. Moorhen. I saw one 

 on November 11th, 1899, running about in the 

 meadow just outside our garden. 



Vanell/us vulgaris Bechstein. Lapwing. Resi- 

 dent and common on the moors a little inland, but 

 on February 11th, 1900, we saw several of this 

 species in the meadow just outside our garden, 

 and two actually came into it. They were evi- 

 dently driven from the moorlands by the severity 

 of the weather. 



Haematopus ostralegus Lin. Oyster-catcher or 

 Sea-pie. Not rare on the coast and resident. 

 During last winter, 1899-1900, there has been a 

 flock of these birds flying along the shore, and 

 they are still here at the end of May. 



Scolopax rusiicula Lin. Woodcock. Fairly 

 common, and I should think resident. 



Gallinago coelestis Frenzel. Common Snipe. 

 Resident. I have seen this bird on Exmoor in the 

 summer and autumn, and on February 8th, 1900, 

 one was flushed from under a fir-tree in our garden. 

 Tringa alpina Lin. Dunlin. On February 20th, 

 1900, we saw a pair of these birds flying over and 

 settling on the rocks below the Esplanade here. I 

 had not seen it previously. 



Tringa subarquata Giildenstadt. Curlew-Sand- 

 piper. On September 7th, 1898, we saw one of 

 these birds on our lawn, and had a good view of it 

 before it flew away. This bird, or another of the 

 same species, was seen on the following day in 

 another place, about a quarter of a mile distant. 



Totanus liypoleucus Lin. Common Sandpiper. 

 Occasionally seen on the beach or up the valleys 

 of the rivers. It probably breeds here. 



Xtimeniiis arquata Lin. Common Curlew. My 

 brother told me that he heard the " whaup" of this 

 bird on. March 13th, 1898, whilst he was walking 

 up the road that leads to the village of Countis- 

 bury. It is reported to breed on the moors 

 inland. 



Lotus ridibundus Lin. Blackheaded Gull. On 

 February 11th, 1900, there were two of these birds 

 walking about in Mr. Jeune's meadow adjoining 

 our garden, and they, or a few others, lingered on 

 the coast for several days later. I only saw two, 

 or the same bird tw T ice, with the rudiments of the 

 brown hood. These are common in South Devon ; 

 but I had not seen them here before, and they 

 were probably driven to this place by storms or 

 the severity of the weather. 



Larus argentatus Gmelin. Herring-gull. Resi- 

 dent and abundant — " the gull " of Lynmouth. It 

 breeds in the immediate neighbourhood. 



