346 THE BIRDS OF DEVON. 



An immature bird was obtained at the mouth of the River Plym, Julj- 31st, 1851 

 (R. A. J., 'Naturalist,' 1851, p. 59). One occurred at Plymouth, July 3Uth, 1858 

 (B., MS. Notes). Three were seen, August 3rd, 1874, between Instow and Freniing- 

 ton, two being young birds (J. G., Zool. 1874, p. 4254). A pair were shot in 

 May 1884, which frequented the pond at Bearscombe, near Kingsbridge, and one was 

 seen near Loddiswell Bridge in May 188G (E. A. S. E., MS. Notes). The Green 

 Sandpiper also sometimes occurs in winter. A young male was shot on the Exe, 

 November 2nd, 181)3; one near Plymouth early in January 1881 (J. G., Zool. 1881, 

 p. 105) ; one at Buckland, near Kingsbridge. January 15th, 1887 (E. A. S. E.) ; and three 

 were seen at Exmouth, December 21st, 1800. 



Dr. E. Moore and Bellamy considered it rare and a winter visitor. Turton and 

 Kingston say : " rare, found occasionally on the banks of some of the Dartmoor streams 

 from September to April." Mr. Ross states that it was " very rare on the Exe." 

 Mr. Cecil Smith considered it a common bird in Devon and partially resident (in 

 Utt.). At Kingsbridge it occurs occasionally in spring, autumn, and winter (R. P. N. 

 and E. A. S. E., MS. Notes). 



It has been frequently obtained at Plymouth, on the marshy ground skirting Big- 

 bury, Start, and Tor Bays, and on the estuary of the Exe on the south coast ; and on 

 salt-marshes near tiie sliores of Barnstaple Bay and the estuary of the Taw on the 

 north coast. Inland it has occurred at North Buckland (J. 0. B., Nat. Hist. S. 

 Devon, ]i. 212); near Ivvbridsje (Zool. 1^85, p. 378); Wonford, near Exeter; and 

 near Barnstaple (M. S. C."R., Zool. 1871, p. 2810). 



We used to find the Green Sandpiper common in the neighbourhood of 

 We.stoii-super-Mare in Somerset, meeting little parties consisting of old 

 birds and young, by the side of rushy pools bordering on the Axe, at the 

 end of July, and in August and September. 



Wood-Sandpiper. Totamis glareola (Gm.). 



A casual visitor, of rare occurrence. It was first discovered as a British 

 bird by Col. Montagu, and there used to be a female specimen in the 

 British Museum from his collection, which was shot on the south coast of 

 Devon early in the month of August (Orn. Diet.). Dr. Tucker includes it 

 in his list of birds found near Ashburton, and Turton and Kingston speak 

 of its being found on the Dart. 



Although this Sandpiper is a widely distributed species acd nests 

 commonly in Holland, it is known in this countiy only as an occa.sional 

 visitant, rarely seen in the spring, and chiefly appearing in the autumn. 

 There is one instance of its nest and eggs having been taken at Prestwich 

 Car, in the county of Durham. We know of but three occurrences in 

 Isorth Devon, all of them of young birds ; one was to ourselves on a salt- 

 mar.sh close to Barnstaple, August 11th, 1S59, another was shot by the 

 Bev. Marcus Bickards on the Braunton Burrows, on the same day that he 

 obtained the Pectoral Sandpipers and very near the same spot, in Sept. 

 1871, and the third was secured near Barnstaple in August 1877. In 

 South Devon the Wood-Sandpiper is equally rare, and Mr. Gatcombe had 

 never seen one that had been shot in the neighbourhood of Plymouth. 

 However, in the Gallery of British Birds in the Natural History Museum 

 at South Kensington a verj' good example of the Wood-Sandpiper may be 

 seen which is labelled " Torquay," and was presented by Mr. Coningham. 



Mr. II. P. Xicholls has never seen a Wood-Sandpiper at Kingsbridge, 



