362 Scraps relating to Natural History y by C. M. Adamson. 



strange "birds at Holy Island, I looked carefully over a wall at the 

 Lough side — as usual water-hens flapped away — and I thought 

 there was nothing worth shooting, however I waited, and to my 

 surprise, I saw a stately looking bird come from behind a hillock. 

 I gazed at it with astonishment — it evidently did not see me ; 

 and before I had time to consider, another followed, and I 

 waited till they got near each other and fired. The one I shot, 

 the other seemed to take no notice of what had happened but 

 seemed to walk leisurely on» and even when I got within a f ^w 

 yards of them, I almost wondered it did not fly away, and was 

 prepared to shoot it if it did. I thought it was astonished that its 

 companion did not fly away, and was unwilling to leave it. 

 However on getting very near the reason was apparent ; on one 

 side the primaries drooped a very little ; but it never attempted 

 to open its wings, merely walking on as I approached. On taking 

 hold of it, however, I found it was severely wounded, but it was 

 not knocked over as I should have thought it would have been. 

 As a penalty for having shot the birds I set them up — they are 

 as usual birds hatched the same year and only a few weeks old. 



Wood Saotdpiper. — I met with this rare bird in the North of 

 England at Holy Island on the 16th August, 1877. It is, as 

 usual, a young bird a. few weeks old, most probably migrating 

 from the north of Europe southwards, to spend the winter perhaps 

 in Africa. When I was carrying this bird tiU the blood ceased 

 to flow to keep it clean, I met with a seaside gunner and shewed 

 it to him, asking him if he had ever seen one like it. His imme- 

 diate answer was, " There are plenty of them about in winter." 

 Can anything point out more completely the little reliance that 

 can be placed upon what you are told than this, which is only a 

 sample of what one constantly meets with : this being a bird whose 

 visits are most exceptional here, and which are almost entirely 

 confined to young birds in early autumn ! 



Green Sandpiper. — In August, 1877, during very high floods 

 in the Tweed district, several Green Sandpipers remained on the 

 flooded grass land only about Holy Island for some days . I think 

 they would have dispersed inland in ordinary seasons, but were 

 detained in consequence of bends in the rivers on which they 

 usually like to remain being covered with water. So soon as the 

 floods abated they left entirely. I did not succeed in getting one 

 of them, as they always rose from such places, as they could see 

 me at a distance, and before I knew whare they were, I shot 



