﻿THE 
  COAST 
  BIBDS 
  OF 
  SOMERSET. 
  85 
  

  

  and 
  sandy 
  dunes, 
  present 
  attractive 
  breeding 
  quarters 
  ; 
  while 
  the 
  

   vast 
  mud-flats, 
  oozy 
  estuaries, 
  and 
  firm 
  stretches 
  of 
  sand, 
  bor- 
  

   dering, 
  as 
  they 
  often 
  do, 
  low-lying 
  swampy 
  out-marshes 
  and 
  

   flooded 
  pastures, 
  offer 
  the 
  most 
  tempting 
  feeding 
  grounds 
  to 
  a 
  

   great 
  variety 
  of 
  coast-frequenting 
  birds. 
  

  

  In 
  dealing 
  with 
  the 
  birds 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  on 
  this 
  coast, 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  

   propose 
  to 
  give 
  an 
  exhaustive 
  account 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  species 
  which 
  

   from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  have 
  been 
  obtained. 
  It 
  is 
  rather 
  my 
  object 
  to 
  

   give 
  a 
  sketch 
  of 
  those 
  kinds 
  which 
  a 
  field 
  naturalist 
  may 
  expect 
  

   to 
  meet 
  with 
  when 
  rambling 
  along 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  Somerset. 
  It 
  is 
  

   hoped 
  also 
  that 
  the 
  account 
  may 
  be 
  of 
  some 
  interest 
  when 
  com- 
  

   pared 
  with 
  those 
  relating 
  to 
  neighbouring 
  counties. 
  

  

  Starting 
  with 
  the 
  order 
  Passercs, 
  we 
  find 
  all 
  the 
  commoner 
  

   Thrushes 
  represented. 
  The 
  wet 
  water-meadows 
  offer 
  them 
  at- 
  

   tractive 
  feeding 
  grounds 
  at 
  certain 
  seasons, 
  and 
  Mistle-Thrushes, 
  

   Eedwings, 
  and 
  Fieldfares 
  roam 
  over 
  them 
  in 
  flocks 
  in 
  autumn 
  

   and 
  winter. 
  The 
  King-Ouzel 
  appears 
  regularly 
  in 
  April 
  and 
  

   September 
  on 
  Brean 
  Down 
  and 
  elsewhere 
  on 
  its 
  way 
  to 
  and 
  from 
  

   its 
  breeding 
  haunts 
  on 
  Exmoor. 
  The 
  Wheatear 
  finds 
  several 
  

   suitable 
  nesting 
  quarters, 
  especially 
  among 
  the 
  sandhills 
  at 
  

   Berrow, 
  and 
  the 
  Stonechat 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  resident 
  wherever 
  it 
  

   can 
  find 
  the 
  gorse 
  and 
  thick 
  bushes 
  it 
  loves 
  to 
  haunt. 
  The 
  

   Whinchat, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  my 
  experience 
  goes, 
  is 
  not 
  often 
  met 
  with 
  

   near 
  the 
  coast. 
  The 
  Black 
  Kedstart 
  often 
  occurs 
  in 
  autumn 
  and 
  

   winter, 
  and 
  is 
  probably 
  much 
  more 
  regular 
  than 
  the 
  casual 
  

   observer 
  may 
  think. 
  The 
  Nightingale 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  common 
  bird 
  in 
  

   Somerset, 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  often 
  heard 
  it 
  singing 
  near 
  the 
  coast, 
  

   sometimes 
  nearly 
  as 
  far 
  west 
  as 
  Quantoxhead. 
  This 
  bird, 
  I 
  

   think, 
  is 
  yearly 
  spreading 
  westward. 
  Last 
  year 
  it 
  reached 
  

   Dunster, 
  and 
  it 
  may 
  soon 
  be 
  expected 
  at 
  Minehead 
  and 
  Porlock. 
  

  

  The 
  families 
  of 
  the 
  Warblers 
  and 
  Titmice 
  can 
  in 
  no 
  sense 
  be 
  

   called 
  shore-birds, 
  but 
  as 
  in 
  parts 
  of 
  Somerset 
  the 
  trees 
  hang 
  

   just 
  above 
  the 
  waves, 
  the 
  notes 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  may 
  often 
  be 
  

   heard 
  during 
  a 
  ramble 
  along 
  the 
  shore. 
  Thus 
  the 
  Wood 
  Wren 
  

   is 
  common 
  in 
  summer 
  between 
  Porlock 
  and 
  Glenthorne, 
  and 
  I 
  

   have 
  heard 
  the 
  Grasshopper-Warbler 
  and 
  the 
  Lesser 
  Whitethroat 
  

   singing 
  so 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  waves 
  that 
  the 
  bushes 
  they 
  were 
  in 
  must 
  

   at 
  times 
  be 
  splashed 
  by 
  the 
  spray. 
  The 
  latter 
  bird 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  

   to 
  be 
  rather 
  common 
  on 
  the 
  Burnham 
  Level, 
  -and 
  I 
  have 
  noticed 
  

  

  