Birds. 6797 



from thecyevisible,butmixed with black; the beak, however, resembled 

 the adults, having even the white groove quite perfect. I saw bu( very- 

 few guillemots, or " mairs " as they call them, and those generally 

 single birds in the river or harbour, but never got a shot at one. I 

 certainly expected to find more of them than of the razorbills. Once 

 or twice off the coast one of the large divers also made its appearance, 

 a young bird, but of which species I could not make out, as it kept at 

 a most respectful distance. 



Crested Grebe {Podiceps cristaius). I was somewhat surprised to 

 find these birds not only in the tranquil waters of the bay at Torquay, 

 but also out at sea, off the coast at Teignmouth. Always associating 

 them with the still waters of our Norfolk broads, where they remain 

 nearly all the year round, only making towards the sea when their 

 usual haunts are closed by the ice, I had no idea that they could 

 accommodate themselves so closely to the habits of the more strictly 

 marine divers. On one occasion I saw a party of three, apparently an 

 adult pair and a young bird, having no perceptible crest. The old 

 male was a most splendid specimen, with about the finest crest I ever 

 saw, and as 1 watched him, through the glass, between the intervals 

 of diving, the silky whiteness of his neck and breast contrasting with 

 the rich chesnut fringe, glistened in the sun as he rose and fell on the 

 rippling waves. I. afterwards saw single birds, even in rough weather, 

 diving into the large billows, or floating lightly over others, as much 

 at home on the " troubled sea " as the guillemots or the razorbills. 

 Whether it is usual or not to find this species on the Devonshire coast 

 at this season (between March and April) I am not aware ; Yarrell 

 speaks of them as having been " seen occasionally in Devon and Corn- 

 wall," which would imply that they are not very common at any time, 

 but certainly the mildness of the weather afforded no clew as to their 

 motive for preferring the " sea-side " in this instance to the quiet 

 waters of the " Teign." 



Water Ouzel [Cbiclus aquaiicns). I had the pleasure of seeing this 

 species for the first time in a wuld state, being only a very rare visitant 

 to the Eastern counties, but certainly in a locality where I least 

 expected to meet with it. A single bird frequented the bathing cove 

 at Torquay, where for several days I observed it flitting across the 

 little bay, from one range of rocks to the other, flying low over the 

 waves as they broke on the shingly beach, and perching every now 

 and then on the huge stones that form the breakwater jutting out into 

 the sea. 1 had not expected to find the water ouzel so near the coast, 

 but certainly a more quiet, secluded spot could scarcely be found, 



