﻿90 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  attractive 
  bird 
  regularly 
  met 
  with 
  on 
  the 
  Somer&et 
  

   coast 
  is 
  the 
  Common 
  Sheld-Duck. 
  Perhaps 
  nowhere 
  in 
  England 
  

   is 
  it 
  more 
  abundant 
  than 
  on 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  Bridgewater 
  Bay. 
  

   There 
  are 
  many 
  localities 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  where 
  these 
  birds 
  breed, 
  

   but 
  the 
  largest 
  colonies 
  are 
  on 
  Brean 
  Down, 
  among 
  the 
  sand- 
  

   hills 
  from 
  Brean 
  to 
  Steart 
  Point, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  warren 
  atMinehead. 
  

   Early 
  in 
  the 
  nesting 
  season 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  

   pairs 
  together 
  on 
  Brean 
  Down, 
  and 
  almost 
  as 
  many 
  on 
  the 
  flats 
  

   opposite 
  Burnham. 
  The 
  site 
  usually 
  selected 
  for 
  the 
  nest 
  is 
  a 
  

   Babbit-burrow, 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  the 
  eggs 
  in 
  crevices 
  of 
  the 
  

   face 
  of 
  a 
  cliff, 
  beneath 
  a 
  thick 
  bush, 
  and 
  even 
  in 
  abed 
  of 
  nettles. 
  

   In 
  this 
  last 
  situation 
  the 
  eggs 
  could 
  easily 
  be 
  seen 
  from 
  above. 
  

   The 
  young 
  are 
  usually 
  hatched 
  early 
  in 
  July, 
  and 
  then 
  the 
  

   various 
  broods 
  seem 
  to 
  congregate, 
  and 
  one 
  may 
  often 
  notice 
  as 
  

   many 
  as 
  forty 
  downy 
  ducklings 
  on 
  the 
  sea 
  following 
  one 
  pair 
  of 
  

   old 
  birds. 
  Towards 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  breeding 
  season 
  and 
  through 
  

   the 
  autumn 
  this 
  bird 
  gets 
  scarcer 
  on 
  the 
  coast, 
  and 
  during 
  

   October 
  and 
  November 
  hardly 
  one 
  will 
  be 
  seen. 
  Observers 
  in 
  

   Wales 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  coast 
  of 
  England 
  have 
  also 
  noticed 
  this 
  

   late 
  autumn 
  migration, 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  often 
  puzzled 
  me 
  where 
  the 
  

   birds 
  go 
  to. 
  Can 
  it 
  be 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  moult 
  at 
  this 
  season, 
  and 
  

   so 
  seek 
  a 
  place 
  of 
  refuge 
  on 
  the 
  open 
  sea 
  while 
  incapable 
  of 
  

   sustained 
  flight, 
  or 
  do 
  they 
  leave 
  the 
  country 
  altogether 
  in 
  search 
  

   of 
  warmer 
  climes 
  ? 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  think 
  the 
  last 
  can 
  be 
  the 
  true 
  

   explanation, 
  as 
  the 
  birds 
  begin 
  to 
  return 
  early 
  in 
  December, 
  

   and 
  during 
  the 
  coldest 
  months 
  their 
  numbers 
  in 
  Bridgewater 
  

   Bay 
  are 
  probably 
  greater 
  than 
  at 
  any 
  other 
  season 
  of 
  the 
  

   year. 
  On 
  the 
  last 
  day 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  1903 
  I 
  counted 
  five 
  hundred 
  

   in 
  one 
  flock 
  on 
  the 
  Berrow 
  Flats 
  during 
  a 
  spell 
  of 
  cold 
  weather, 
  

   and 
  smaller 
  parties 
  were 
  feeding 
  at 
  no 
  great 
  distance. 
  In 
  

   Somerset 
  the 
  species, 
  from 
  its 
  breeding 
  habits, 
  is 
  always 
  called 
  

   the 
  " 
  Burrow 
  Duck." 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  October 
  until 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  April 
  the 
  shallow 
  

   bays 
  on 
  the 
  Somerset 
  coast 
  are 
  frequented 
  by 
  flocks 
  of 
  diving 
  

   Ducks, 
  and 
  during 
  very 
  cold 
  or 
  stormy 
  weather 
  these 
  flocks 
  

   increase 
  greatly 
  in 
  size. 
  By 
  far 
  the 
  greater 
  number 
  of 
  these 
  

   Ducks 
  belong 
  to 
  one 
  species 
  — 
  the 
  Scaup 
  Duck 
  — 
  called 
  by 
  the 
  

   fishermen 
  Diving 
  Curre, 
  or 
  Bl^ck 
  Wigeon, 
  and 
  all 
  through 
  the 
  

   winter 
  months 
  flocks 
  of 
  two 
  hundred 
  or 
  three 
  hundred 
  may 
  be 
  

  

  