﻿iAF 
  

  

  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST 
  

  

  No. 
  753.— 
  March. 
  1904. 
  

  

  NOTES 
  ON 
  THE 
  BIRDS 
  FOUND 
  ON 
  THE 
  COAST 
  

   OF 
  SOMERSET. 
  

  

  By 
  the 
  Rev. 
  F. 
  L. 
  Blathwayt, 
  M.A., 
  M.B.O.U. 
  

  

  A 
  work 
  on 
  the 
  birds 
  which 
  inhabit 
  the 
  waters 
  and 
  coasts 
  of 
  

   the 
  Bristol 
  Channel 
  and 
  the 
  estuary 
  of 
  the 
  River 
  Severn, 
  similar 
  

   to 
  that 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  John 
  Cordeaux, 
  which 
  dealt 
  with 
  the 
  district 
  

   around 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Humber, 
  would, 
  I 
  think, 
  be 
  welcomed 
  by 
  

   ornithologists. 
  

  

  Such 
  a 
  work 
  would 
  be 
  interesting 
  for 
  several 
  reasons. 
  Students 
  

   of 
  bird 
  migration 
  seem 
  to 
  -be 
  agreed 
  that 
  a 
  well-marked 
  line 
  of 
  

   flight 
  extends 
  across 
  England 
  from 
  the 
  Wash 
  to 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  

   River 
  Severn. 
  We 
  find, 
  however, 
  in 
  the 
  Bristol 
  Channel, 
  that 
  

   there 
  are 
  many 
  birds, 
  especially 
  Waders, 
  which 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  

   numerous 
  on 
  the 
  mud-flats 
  around 
  Cardiff 
  and 
  Burnham 
  than 
  

   they 
  are 
  on 
  the 
  tempting-looking 
  stretches 
  of 
  mud 
  and 
  sand 
  

   above 
  the 
  Severn 
  Tunnel. 
  This 
  seems 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  many 
  

   species, 
  such 
  as 
  Knots, 
  Grey 
  Plovers, 
  and 
  Turnstones, 
  do 
  not 
  

   visit 
  the 
  Bristol 
  Channel 
  by 
  the 
  overland 
  route, 
  but 
  come 
  perhaps 
  

   by 
  way 
  of 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  English 
  Channel 
  or 
  the 
  Irish 
  Sea. 
  

  

  If 
  a 
  competent 
  ornithologist 
  were 
  to 
  study 
  the 
  Bristol 
  Channel 
  

   district 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  he 
  would 
  perhaps 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  solve 
  many 
  in- 
  

   teresting 
  problems 
  with 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  distribution 
  and 
  migrations 
  

   of 
  birds 
  in 
  our 
  islands. 
  No 
  such 
  work, 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  am 
  aware, 
  has 
  

   yet 
  appeared. 
  In 
  ' 
  The 
  Birds 
  of 
  Devon,' 
  by 
  Messrs. 
  D'Urban 
  

   Zool. 
  4th 
  ser. 
  vol. 
  VIII., 
  March, 
  1904. 
  h 
  

  

  