NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BERMUDAS. 27 



Harry Tucker's Pond, in company with the Rev. H. B. 

 Tristram and Mr. Marriott, and was much gratified by 

 seeing many Swallows on the wing there. This is the first 

 time I have witnessed such a sight in the Bermudas. Shot 

 two specimens and found them to be the Hirundo ruslica 

 or Barn Swallow. 



August i^tfi, 1847. — Heard that Mr. Fraser, the school- 

 master, had been out yesterday and shot several Plover. 

 Called at his lodgings and found only two couples and a 

 half of the American King Plover (jC. semipalmatus). 



August 16th, 1847. — Beeman, Master of the "Lady of 

 the Lake " (dismasted in a hurricane on the 5th inst., while 

 proceeding from New York to these islands), informs me 

 that on the 4th he observed several flocks of Plover and 

 two Swallows, all flying to the southward. The latter 

 settled on the rigging. 



August 21st, 1847. — In walking round the Chief Justice's 

 Pond (or ponds, for it is intersected by a sort of island 

 or peninsula), I was surprised to find a nest of the Ground 

 Dove at this late season of the year. It was built on the 

 lower branches of a cedar tree about nine feet from the 

 ground, and composed of small twigs; the eggs, two in 

 number, were white. Saw nothing of the Gallinule, which 

 is said to be heard every day; indeed, has been heard 

 daily for months past, and yet I cannot ascertain whether 

 it has bred there. The cover is so thick round this pond, 

 particularly about the roots of the mangrove trees, that it 

 would be a very difficult task to beat such birds out of it. 



Heard the "tweet-tweet" of the Spotted Sandpiper 

 several times after sunset. 



