president's address. 197 



Ringed Plover. — These birds are not very numerous, 

 probably a dozen pairs. Nesting commences about the latter 

 half of May. Four eggs are laid in a depression of the sand. 



Sheldrake. — Very numerous. Nesting in rabbit burrows 

 commences early in May. I saw young birds on the water 

 during the first days of June. 



Common Redshank. — On May i8th I saw three or four 

 pairs of birds, and was informed the young from two nests 

 had been seen a few days before. During twelve years the 

 keeper had only seen two nests with eggs. 



Black-headed Gull (2nd and 4th June, 1900). — This is a 

 very numerous colony, the nests being placed entirely on 

 sandhills. I found fresh eggs, incubated eggs, eggs chipped, 

 young birds just hatched, birds beginning to run, birds 

 running, birds strong on their legs, and one bird able to fly a 

 little. The recently hatched birds trusted more to hiding 

 themselves than to runnmg. The visit was too late to see the 

 eggs and nestlings in perfection. The young birds seem quite 

 as pugnacious as afraid. 



(May i8th, 1901). — Birds very numerous. Estimated by 

 keeper to be about eighty thousand pairs. He stated that 

 these birds had increased from about twenty thousand pairs 

 during the last twelve years. Eggs hatched, partly hatched, 

 and highly incubated. Before the down is dry young birds 

 attempt to hide themselves, and on being handled or touched 

 with a stick show pugnacity rather than fear, or probably both 

 blended. Indigestable portion of the food of the mature bird 

 ejected in pellets. Young fed by parent birds as from the 

 crop of a pigeon. All birds leave this district when the young 

 are sufficiently strong on the wing. On arrival in the spring 

 all have their black heads. Saw one nestling in down, head 

 and a streak about the breadth of the head straight down the 

 back the usual brown colour, the whole of the other down 

 pure white. The keeper who has been amongst these birds 

 for the last twelve years never saw a similar colouration. 

 Some birds swooped very closely to our heads, evidently 

 meditating an attack. 



