926 Birds. 



pressive language, he " hit Jack such a thump, that the dust flew out 

 of his back like a miller's bag." This blow did so far disable the he- 

 ron as to prevent his rising again ; or, as I opine, he deemed the car- 

 penter with his tar-brush a less formidable enemy than a peregrine 

 falcon, and therefore preferred trying a race with Mr. Young, to es- 

 saying another flight with the falcon : and such good use did Jack 

 make of his legs, that he was the first to reach a withy-bed, wherein 

 he baffled both his opponents. I fully agree with Mr. Waterton, that 

 the injury done by the heron is not enough to call for his destruction. 



The Little Bittern. On the authority of Mr. Butler, I give this 

 rare bird as having once been obtained in the Tsle of Wight. 



The Common Bittern, though only an occasional visitor, has occur- 

 red not unfrequently within the last few years. My neighbour, E. 

 Peel, Esq., who once made a collection of British birds, obtained 

 three island specimens. R. Loe has shot three or four. Lord Yar- 

 borough's keeper shot one at St. Lawrence, in 1840. Mr. Butler has 

 met with the bittern three or four times ; and one was shot in Park- 

 hurst Forest so lately as during the winter of 1843-4. R. Loe tells 

 me that it is in severe weather the bittern visits the island. 



Although I cannot include the Spoonbill in my list of the birds of 

 the Isle of Wight, it may be worth mentioning that three spoonbills 

 (two adults and one in immature plumage) were" shot in the New Fo- 

 rest during the last week in October, 1841. They were brought into 

 Southampton, where they were seen by my friend, Sir Raymond Jar- 

 vis, who kindly purchased one, and presented it to me. 



The Common Curlew abounds during the winter on our northern, 

 but very seldom visits our southern shore. T have seen twenty toge- 

 ther on the mud at Ryde ; and saw one there so late as May 7, 1840. 



The Whimbrel is almost as common as its congener, I am not sure 

 I should be wrong in saying^ quite as common. About Yarmouth, 

 flocks of whimbrels are seen from early in the autumn till late in 

 spring. I have received a specimen from that neighbourhood, shot 

 June 3 ; and I saw a solitary bird on the mud-flats off* Lymington last 

 year, on July 12. How came these birds there so late in the season? 

 They surely ought to have been far from these parts, attending to do- 

 mestic matters. Brading Harbour and Sandown Bay are frequented 

 by the whimbrel. May 1, 1842, a flock, consisting of nine birds, set- 

 tled on the rocks off Bonchurch, and allowed me to approach within 

 thirty yards of them. 



The Redshank, according to Mr. Butler, appears occasionally at 

 Yarmouth during winter. 



