﻿THE 
  COAST 
  BIRDS 
  OF 
  SOMERSET. 
  93 
  

  

  numbers 
  early 
  in 
  August, 
  and 
  as 
  a 
  rule 
  soon 
  pass 
  on, 
  though 
  I 
  

   have 
  seen 
  a 
  party 
  of 
  forty 
  in 
  mid-winter. 
  The 
  Common 
  Sand- 
  

   piper 
  arrives 
  singly 
  or 
  in 
  pairs 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  about 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  

   April, 
  usually 
  frequenting 
  the 
  estuaries 
  of 
  rivers, 
  but 
  they 
  soon 
  

   leave 
  for 
  their 
  breeding 
  haunts 
  by 
  the 
  Exmoor 
  streams 
  and 
  in 
  

   Wales. 
  They 
  return 
  to 
  the 
  coast 
  early 
  in 
  August, 
  and 
  some- 
  

   times 
  stay 
  until 
  late 
  in 
  October 
  before 
  passing 
  south. 
  The 
  

   Green 
  Sandpiper 
  is 
  sometimes 
  seen 
  in 
  spring, 
  but 
  is 
  chiefly 
  a 
  

   visitor 
  in 
  early 
  autumn, 
  keeping 
  rather 
  to 
  the 
  muddy 
  creeks 
  than 
  

   to 
  the 
  bare 
  flats. 
  A 
  few 
  Bar-tailed 
  Godwits 
  come 
  in 
  autumn, 
  and 
  

   Redshanks 
  haunt 
  the 
  muddy 
  estuaries 
  throughout 
  the 
  winter, 
  a 
  

   pair 
  or 
  two 
  perhaps 
  staying 
  to 
  breed. 
  

  

  Numbers 
  of 
  Curlews 
  frequent 
  the 
  mud-flats 
  throughout 
  the 
  

   year, 
  being 
  less 
  numerous 
  from 
  early 
  spring 
  to 
  late 
  summer, 
  

   when 
  the 
  breeding 
  birds 
  are 
  away 
  on 
  the 
  moors. 
  Many 
  pairs 
  

   nest 
  in 
  the 
  Exmoor 
  country. 
  Towards 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  April 
  a 
  few 
  

   TVhinibrel 
  arrive 
  on 
  the 
  coast, 
  and 
  their 
  numbers 
  increase 
  in 
  

   May, 
  during 
  which 
  month 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  pass 
  on, 
  but 
  a 
  few 
  

   which 
  are 
  not 
  breeding 
  stay 
  throughout 
  the 
  summer, 
  and 
  are 
  

   joined 
  early 
  in 
  August 
  by 
  arrivals 
  from 
  the 
  north. 
  They 
  seem 
  

   to 
  leave 
  again 
  for 
  the 
  south 
  during 
  September, 
  but 
  the 
  autumn 
  

   migration 
  is 
  not, 
  according 
  to 
  my 
  experience, 
  so 
  pronounced 
  as 
  

   that 
  in 
  spring. 
  Other 
  members 
  of 
  this 
  order 
  of 
  birds, 
  such 
  as 
  

   the 
  Dotterel, 
  Ruff, 
  Greenshank, 
  Stone-Curlew, 
  Little 
  Stint, 
  and 
  

   Black-tailed 
  Godwit, 
  are 
  only 
  seen 
  on 
  very 
  rare 
  occasions 
  on 
  the 
  

   Somerset 
  coast. 
  

  

  The 
  Bristol 
  Channel 
  is 
  not 
  much 
  frequented 
  by 
  the 
  Tern 
  

   family, 
  but 
  the 
  Arctic, 
  Common, 
  Little, 
  and 
  Black 
  Terns 
  are 
  

   occasional 
  spring 
  and 
  autumn 
  visitors, 
  though 
  the 
  naturalist 
  on 
  

   the 
  shore 
  will 
  not 
  often 
  meet 
  w 
  7 
  ith 
  them. 
  

  

  Gulls 
  are 
  far 
  more 
  numerous, 
  among 
  which 
  the 
  rare 
  Sabine's 
  

   Gull 
  has 
  frequently 
  been 
  shot 
  in 
  September, 
  usually 
  in 
  immature 
  

   plumage, 
  and 
  other 
  rare 
  species 
  are 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  obtained. 
  

   Among 
  the 
  species 
  which 
  may 
  regularly 
  be 
  seen, 
  the 
  commonest 
  

   by 
  far 
  is 
  the 
  Black-headed 
  Gull. 
  Young 
  and 
  old 
  arrive 
  on 
  the 
  

   coast 
  early 
  in 
  July, 
  and 
  from 
  that 
  time 
  until 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  

   March 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  flocks 
  up 
  to 
  four 
  hundred 
  or 
  more 
  on 
  

   the 
  mud-flats, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  mouths 
  of 
  rivers. 
  They 
  leave 
  very 
  early 
  

   for 
  their 
  nesting 
  haunts, 
  but 
  a 
  few 
  non-breeders 
  and 
  young 
  linger 
  

   on 
  through 
  the 
  summer. 
  

  

  