414 SCOULTON MEEE, NOEFOLK, AND 



after moths (perhaps the ghost-moth, Hepialis humuli) above the ripe 

 but unmown meadows, in flocks generally of about a dozen birds/' 



Insect-catching goes on with my birds till it is too dark to see. 



We could not, however, observe any hawking after insects at Scoulton. 

 Perhaps w^e were too far off; for we did not land on ''the hearth;" it 

 is marshy. 



The arrival of the cap is most expeditious. It is astonishing how 

 soon the feathers on the head change their colour; a few days are enough^ 

 An instance of an individual retaining this mark during wdnter, or else 

 assuming it very early, is mentioned in ' The Field,' January 23, 1875 : — 



" Blach'headed Gull with Black Head in Winter. 



"While walking along the beach at Exmouth, on January 11, a Black- 

 headed Gull (^Larus ridibundus), with the entire head black, and in adult 

 plumage, flew slowly over my head. I could make no mistake, as the bird 

 was close to me ; and I know these Gulls well, as they nest in numbers on a 

 bog near my residence in the Queen's County. On December 21 also, when 

 on the beach here, two Gulls flew by with the black head. Morris gives the 

 winter plumage as, ' in winter white, with only a dusky patch behind the 

 the eye.' Can you explain this variation from the normal condition of 

 plumage? — C. " " 



" [It is certainly unusual to see Black-headed Gulls with black heads 

 in winter ; but the period during which the summer plumage is gradually 

 assumed often varies considerably in individuals of the same species, 

 depending, no doubt, upon the age, health, and condition of each. This 

 is observable in a more marked degree in the Godwits, Knot, Curlew, 

 Sandpiper, Grey Plover, and other wading birds.— En.] " 



On December 3, 1862, I handled a beautiful specimen. The breast- 



