﻿NOTES 
  AND 
  QUERIES. 
  435 
  

  

  easy 
  range 
  of 
  my 
  glasses. 
  The 
  small 
  Waders 
  are 
  mostly 
  Dunlin 
  and 
  

   Kinged 
  Plovers, 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  still 
  retaining 
  traces 
  of 
  their 
  dark 
  

   breast-feathers 
  ; 
  but 
  among 
  these 
  it 
  is 
  easy 
  to 
  make 
  out 
  a 
  good 
  many 
  

   Turnstones, 
  and 
  several 
  times 
  I 
  catch 
  their 
  chattering 
  cry. 
  A 
  Whim- 
  

   brel 
  is 
  busy 
  looking 
  for 
  a 
  meal 
  ; 
  in 
  these 
  parts 
  a 
  local 
  name 
  for 
  this 
  

   species 
  is 
  " 
  Cowslip 
  Bird,'' 
  because 
  its 
  spring 
  arrival 
  coincides 
  with 
  

   the 
  opening 
  of 
  that 
  flower 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  bird 
  before 
  me 
  would 
  be 
  a 
  visitor 
  

   on 
  its 
  way 
  south 
  from 
  northern 
  breeding 
  haunts. 
  

  

  Presently 
  I 
  turn 
  my 
  glasses 
  on 
  a 
  bird 
  circling 
  round 
  with 
  rather 
  

   unsteady 
  flight, 
  and 
  evidently 
  about 
  to 
  alight 
  on 
  the 
  mud. 
  The 
  tail 
  

   is 
  dark, 
  and 
  the 
  upper 
  tail-coverts 
  conspicuously 
  white, 
  and 
  as 
  the 
  

   bird 
  pitches 
  on 
  the 
  mud 
  close 
  to 
  a 
  Curlew 
  and 
  a 
  small 
  party 
  of 
  Grey 
  

   Plovers, 
  I 
  get 
  an 
  interesting 
  study 
  in 
  " 
  bills." 
  He 
  is 
  a 
  Godwit, 
  

   perhaps 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  rarer 
  black-tailed 
  species, 
  and 
  his 
  slightly 
  

   upturned 
  beak 
  contrasts 
  with 
  the 
  long 
  downward-curving 
  bill 
  of 
  the 
  

   Curlew 
  and 
  the 
  short 
  straight 
  ones 
  of 
  the 
  Plovers. 
  Each 
  no 
  doubt 
  

   is 
  adapted 
  for 
  securing 
  a 
  particular 
  kind 
  of 
  food. 
  On 
  the 
  sands 
  are 
  

   parties 
  of 
  Pied 
  Wagtails, 
  and 
  among 
  the 
  dunes 
  around 
  me 
  are 
  twittering 
  

   flocks 
  of 
  Greenfinches 
  and 
  Linnets, 
  busy 
  with 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  various 
  

   plants. 
  The 
  air 
  is 
  full 
  of 
  Swallows 
  and 
  House-Martins, 
  mostly 
  young 
  

   birds, 
  preparing 
  for 
  their 
  southward 
  flight. 
  These 
  are 
  hawking 
  very 
  

   low, 
  and 
  constantly 
  alighting 
  on 
  the 
  sand. 
  Their 
  prey 
  is 
  probably 
  

   a 
  species 
  of 
  grey 
  fly, 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  numbers 
  on 
  the 
  sandy 
  

   shore. 
  

  

  Every 
  minute 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  stretches 
  of 
  oozy 
  mud-flats 
  are 
  laid 
  

   bare, 
  and 
  hidden 
  sand-banks 
  begin 
  to 
  make 
  their 
  appearance 
  above 
  

   the 
  receding 
  tide. 
  The 
  crowd 
  of 
  birds 
  on 
  the 
  Gore 
  Sand 
  gets 
  more 
  

   and 
  more 
  restless 
  ; 
  Gulls, 
  Curlews, 
  Ducks, 
  and 
  Waders 
  drift 
  away 
  in 
  

   straggling 
  parties 
  to 
  spread 
  over 
  the 
  rich 
  feeding-grounds, 
  until 
  the 
  

   return 
  of 
  the 
  tide 
  shall 
  impel 
  them 
  once 
  more 
  to 
  assemble 
  on 
  the 
  

   sand-bank, 
  which 
  is 
  for 
  them 
  a 
  safe 
  haven 
  of 
  refuge. 
  — 
  F. 
  L. 
  Blathwayt 
  

   (Lincoln). 
  

  

  AMPHIBIA. 
  

  

  Newts 
  in 
  North 
  Wales. 
  — 
  In 
  reply 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Forrest's 
  question 
  (ante, 
  

   p. 
  391), 
  I 
  may 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  Common 
  Newt 
  (Molge 
  vulgaris) 
  occurs 
  in 
  

   Denbighshire, 
  where 
  1 
  have 
  found 
  it 
  near 
  Trefnant, 
  associated 
  with 
  

   M. 
  cristata 
  ; 
  but, 
  although 
  I 
  have 
  sought 
  for 
  it 
  in 
  many 
  places, 
  I 
  have 
  

   never 
  found 
  it 
  in 
  Carnarvon 
  or 
  Anglesea. 
  In 
  these 
  counties 
  M. 
  jJcdmata 
  

   is 
  the 
  dominant 
  species. 
  In 
  Carnarvon 
  I 
  have 
  taken 
  it 
  near 
  Abersoch 
  

   (Zool. 
  1888, 
  p. 
  394), 
  and, 
  associated 
  with 
  M. 
  cristata, 
  in 
  a 
  pond 
  in 
  a 
  

   limestone 
  quarry 
  on 
  the 
  Little 
  Orme. 
  In 
  Anglesea 
  it 
  occurs 
  near 
  

  

  