Birds. 1175 



tinguishing its food, as worms, &c. deep in the soil. All these birds 

 are extremely fond of a small kind of red worm. 



Curlew Sandpiper, Pigmy Curlew, Tringa subarquata. Mr. Sel- 

 by, in his ' Catalogue,' p. 274, says, " a male and female, now in 

 the possession of Mr. E. Backhouse, jun., were killed near Hartle- 

 pool." And Mr. Fox, in a ' Notice of some rare Birds,' &c, published 

 in the ( Transactions of the Nat. Hist. Soc. of Northumberland, Dur- 

 ham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne,' vol. ii. p. 184, mentions "two speci- 

 mens which were killed by Mr. Scruton at Hartlepool, out of a flock 

 of five." Also " in my collection, having been shot on the mud-banks 

 by the Tees."— ,7. G. 



Knot, or Knute, Tringa Canulus. Not unfrequent upon the 

 sandy coast in autumn and winter, and u numerous on the shores of 

 the Tees."— J. G. 



Little Stint, Tringa minuta. " In my collection, shot on the 

 Tees' side."—/. G. 



Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa pect oralis. An American species. 

 Mr. Yarrell states (Preface, p. xi.) that "Dr. Edward Clarke wrote me 

 word that he shot a specimen of this rare sandpiper very near Hartle- 

 pool, in Oct., 1841." Some naturalists have doubted the migration of 

 birds from any part of the New World to our own coasts. The appear- 

 ance, however, with us of the present species, which is truly a native 

 of America, may be quoted as a proof of the fact. If we consider the 

 passage from America to England, there is nothing in it impossible, 

 or exceedingly difficult, for the flight of a strong-winged bird. For 

 I may remark, that a migrating bird most probably comes from the 

 other districts of America by Greenland, to Iceland, and the Faroe 

 Isles, thence to the Shetland Islands, and Orkneys, and so down the 

 east coast of Scotland to our eastern shores in Durham. 



Dunlin, Purre, or Stint, Tringa variabilis. The first English name 

 refers to this bird in its summer dress ; and the second and third to 

 it in winter. 



Purple Sandpiper, Tringa marilima. Mr. John Grey has two 

 stuffed specimens of this Tringa, which were shot in the lakes in Har- 

 tlepool a few years ago. According to Mr. Yarrell, " the prevailing 

 bluish lead colour of this species at once distinguishes it from every 

 other British sandpiper." 



Landrail, Corn Crake, Crex pratensis. A regular visiter in she 

 spring : with us the peculiar note, or crake, is seldom heard after the 

 middle of July. When roasted it is justly esteemed ; though to my 

 taste it is often too fat and greasy. Not strictly a water-bird, yet its 



