BIRDS OF NORTH-EAST NORTHUMBERLAND. 127 



About five years ago I used to come here daily during the spring 

 migration, and note the new arrivals as I came upon them 

 either skulking in the gorse-bushes, or uttering their feeble 

 notes from the topmost sprays of the thorns. To me there is 

 nothing in the observation of bird-life to compare with the 

 pleasure and anticipation of looking out for and recognizing 

 each new species as it arrives. In those times the dene had a 

 notice at the bottom and top of it : " Trespassers will be prose- 

 cuted, and stray dogs shot " ; and on each side : " The game 

 and shooting rights over this land are strictly preserved. By 

 order." What irony the latter is ! I think in all my visits 

 I have seen but two Partridges and an occasional Snipe on the 

 land ! But as far as the wild birds were concerned, this state of 

 affairs was ideal. Whether the notices frightened them, or they 

 did not wish to go, I do not know, but despite the fact that 

 a public footpath ran across it at one point, I never saw anybody 

 wandering off the beaten track. 



The sand-banks prevail for about a mile and a quarter, 

 the coast gradually turning seawards, and forming a point, at 

 the extremity of which is a small island, by name Bates', or 

 St. Mary's. This is not an island, strictly speaking, as the 

 water only surrounds it at high tide. This spot is mentioned 

 more perhaps than any other in the following paper, which is 

 due to the fact that many of the birds passing along the coast 

 touch at this place, and are thereby procured. There is a space 

 of about a hundred yards between the island and the mainland, 

 and birds passing fly through this gap. Here butts are formed 

 at low tide, in which the gunners sit, now generally in vain. As 

 this is one of the most commanding points on that part of the 

 coast, it is in the direct line of flight of birds passing north or 

 south. During later years a large lighthouse has been erected 

 on the island, but very few migrants have been observed at it, 

 owing, doubtless, to the fact that the duration of the flashes of 

 light is too short, and that during the periods of darkness the 

 birds probably pass on. St. Mary's Island may well claim to 

 have a very remarkable record of rare birds procured or observed 

 on or near it. For over a hundred years it has been the more 

 or less constant haunt of one or more men with guns. To this 

 fact the island owes its great number of records, for there has 



