240 THE BIRDS OF DEVOX. 



1852. p. 20'>). A bird of the year was shot out of a small flock between Exmoiith and 

 Starcross, ^N'ovember 18th, 18(>7 (C. S.. Zool. 1868, p. lOoiJ). A young male on the 

 Ese, December 1876 (Zool. 1877, p. 1U">) ; two immature birds were shot by Mr. 

 Dumbleton, of Esuioutli, January 1st, 187'J, and another was killed in December 1890. 

 One occurred at Barnstaple, ]S'ovember 1858 (Zool. 1859, p. 6448). 



In Cornwall Mr. E. H. Rodd considered the Long-tailed Duck very 

 rare, but is able to mention several instances of its occurrence, one of 

 them having been shot some distance inland. On the Dorset coast Mr. 

 Mansel-Pleydell regarded it as to be generally expected in severe winters, 

 and speaks of two which were shot at Poole as late as the month of May, 

 and mentions five, one of them an adult drake, which were shot in the 

 harbour there in November 1887 (Zool. 1888, p. 31). Mr. Cecil Smith 

 was not able to include this species among the birds of his county, and 

 the only Somerset example we know of is an immature bird, which was 

 shot atVeston-super-Mare, December 16, 18!)0 (Zool. 1801, p. 06). The 

 Long-tailed Duck has, apparently, occurred more frequently on the South 

 Devon coast than anywhere else on the sea-board of the S.W. peninsula. 



Eider Duck. Somateria mollissima (Linn.). 



A casual visitor, of rare occurrence during flic winter months. 

 Montagu records a female shot on the coast of South Devon in the winter 

 of l8')7 (Orn. Diet.). Dr. E. Moore mentions another female obtained 

 near Plymouth in January 1830 (Trans. Plym. Inst. 1830, p. 340). 

 During the frost in Deceml)er 1844 three immature birds were shot on 

 the Exe estuary (W. li. S., Zool. 1845, p. 982). A fine young male 

 was killed in Plymouth Sound early in January 1868 by Mr. G. Morcom. 

 There were two birds in company, but the second (probably a female), on 

 the fall of her companion, made a few circuits in the air and then flew 

 off seawards. Mr. J. Gatcombe, who made a drawing of this sjjecimen, 

 informed us that he had seen one or two other examples of this species 

 that had been killed in Devonshire {in JUt. 26th April, 1883). A female 

 was shot on Torbay in the winter of 1866 (Von H., Zool. 1874, p. 3!)08), 

 and is preserved in the Torquay Museum. One is said to have been killed 

 at Exmouth in Januarj- l>>7i (J. C. W., in lift. January 18th, 1871); 

 and an immature male on Torbay in the winter of 1875. V^e received a 

 fine young male from Barnstaple in December ISitl, which had been shot 

 on the Taw, the only instance we know of this Duck's occurrence in 

 K^orth Devon. 



Although the Eider Duck nests every year on the Fame Islands, off 

 the Northumberland coast, as well as on several of the islands oft' the 

 coast of Scotland, it ver}^ seldom comes south, and is a far scarcer visitant 

 to our "West Country shores than the preceding species. In Cornwall 

 Mr. Itodd could only mention one ; while off the Dorset coast a few are 

 stated by Mr. Mansel-Pleydell to have been met with, a flock of nine 

 having been seen on the Eleet, Tiear Poole, November 27th, l.s71, out of 

 which four were shot. The few recorded Devonshire examples have 



