﻿92 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  May, 
  when 
  the 
  majority 
  leave 
  for 
  northern 
  moorlands. 
  There 
  

   is 
  no 
  direct 
  evidence 
  that 
  any 
  have 
  nested 
  on 
  Exmoor. 
  

  

  The 
  Ringed 
  Plover, 
  unlike 
  the 
  Dunlin, 
  remains 
  to 
  breed, 
  but 
  

   its 
  numbers 
  are 
  decidedly 
  augmented 
  in 
  autumn 
  and 
  winter. 
  A 
  

   good 
  many 
  lay 
  their 
  eggs 
  on 
  the 
  shingle 
  at 
  Steart 
  Island 
  and 
  

   Steart 
  Point, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  among 
  the 
  sand-dunes 
  at 
  Berrow 
  and 
  

   elsewhere 
  along 
  the 
  coast. 
  Several 
  pairs 
  of 
  Oystercatchers 
  

   also 
  breed 
  in 
  similar 
  haunts, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  four 
  

   nests 
  in 
  a 
  morning 
  in 
  one 
  favourite 
  locality, 
  but 
  not 
  all 
  the 
  birds 
  

   of 
  this 
  species 
  seen 
  in 
  summer 
  are 
  breeding, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  in 
  

   June 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  sixty 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  together. 
  In 
  winter 
  flocks 
  

   up 
  to 
  two 
  hundred 
  in 
  number 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  Berrow 
  Flats, 
  

   a 
  feeding 
  ground 
  to 
  which 
  they 
  seem 
  at 
  all 
  seasons 
  to 
  be 
  par- 
  

   ticularly 
  partial. 
  Flocks 
  of 
  Golden 
  and 
  Grey 
  Plover, 
  sometimes 
  

   large, 
  occur 
  in 
  autumn, 
  the 
  former 
  seeming 
  to 
  prefer 
  the 
  moors, 
  

   the 
  latter 
  the 
  mud-flats 
  ; 
  some 
  are 
  seen 
  also 
  through 
  the 
  winter, 
  

   and 
  again 
  in 
  spring 
  on 
  their 
  way 
  to 
  their 
  breeding 
  grounds. 
  A 
  

   few 
  pairs 
  of 
  Golden 
  Plover 
  perhaps 
  remain 
  to 
  breed 
  on 
  Exmoor, 
  

   where 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  small 
  and 
  large 
  parties 
  early 
  in 
  the 
  Stag- 
  

   hunting 
  season. 
  A 
  few 
  Lapwings 
  lay 
  their 
  eggs 
  on 
  the 
  shingle 
  

   and 
  among 
  the 
  sand-dunes, 
  but 
  this 
  species 
  always 
  prefers 
  the 
  

   grassy 
  water-meadows, 
  where 
  in 
  autumn 
  large 
  flocks 
  congregate. 
  

   Turnstones 
  are 
  sometimes 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  in 
  summer, 
  but 
  

   their 
  usual 
  times 
  of 
  appearance 
  are 
  autumn 
  and 
  spring. 
  One 
  

   day 
  late 
  in 
  April 
  I 
  saw 
  a 
  flock 
  of 
  quite 
  one 
  hundred 
  at 
  Steart 
  

   Point 
  in 
  full 
  breeding 
  plumage. 
  

  

  The 
  Woodcock 
  breeds 
  sparingly 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  sheltered 
  

   coverts 
  in 
  the 
  west, 
  and 
  the 
  Snipe 
  breeds 
  both 
  on 
  Exmoor 
  and 
  

   on 
  the 
  central 
  level, 
  where 
  at 
  times 
  in 
  the 
  winter 
  they 
  are 
  very 
  

   abundant. 
  They 
  are 
  often 
  flushed 
  from 
  the 
  sandhills 
  by 
  the 
  

   coast. 
  

  

  The 
  Curlew-Sandpiper 
  and 
  Purple 
  Sandpiper 
  occur 
  sometimes 
  

   in 
  autumn, 
  the 
  former 
  probably 
  escaping 
  notice 
  among 
  the 
  flocks 
  

   of 
  Dunlins. 
  The 
  latter 
  prefers 
  a 
  rocky 
  shore, 
  and 
  is 
  not 
  often 
  

   met 
  with 
  in 
  Somerset. 
  The 
  Knot 
  is 
  an 
  autumn 
  visitor, 
  arriving 
  

   in 
  September, 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  told 
  that 
  it 
  sometimes 
  visits 
  the 
  Burn- 
  

   ham 
  mud-flats 
  in 
  large 
  numbers, 
  though 
  personally 
  I 
  have 
  only 
  

   seen 
  small 
  parties 
  on 
  the 
  Somerset 
  coast, 
  where 
  I 
  think 
  they 
  

   only 
  make 
  a 
  very 
  short 
  stay. 
  Sanderlings 
  arrive 
  in 
  small 
  

  

  