ON BIRD-NETS. 367 



^^ Woodcock ; ^ 1 



Curlew 3 



Knot 25 



Golden Plover \ ^ 3 



Grey Plover 3 



Bar-tailed Godwit 1 



Redshank 1 



Oystercatclier 2 



Dunlin . 34 



Gulls of different species, including the Greater Black-backed . 17 



Total 80.'' 



This was on " a pitch-dark, blustering night ; and the catch was good." 

 "Next night, which was calmer/' "about 40 Plover, Curlew, &c. were 

 taken." 



Again, he selects a day (or, rather, night) from Mr. Cresswell's game- 

 book : — 



'' December 1st, lS69.—D\mlm 40 



Knot ....... 19 



Grebe 1 



Guillemot 1 



Razor-bill 1 



Gulls 5 



Golden Plover .... 1 



" I suppose a high tide laid the nets under water, which would account 

 for the diving birds. Coots are now^ and then caught in the same way. 



" Thirty-six Knots have been taken in one night, and on one occasion sixty 

 Oystercatchers and nothing else ; but the best haul was seven Grey Geese at 

 one swoop, which rolled themselves up in one little bit of net into such a ball 

 that it had to be cut to pieces to get them out," — a good prize, but not 

 quite a fenman's dowry, viz. threescore Geese and a pelt, a pelt being a 

 sheepskin, worn as an outside garment. 



VOL. II. 3 D 



