Birds. 1373 



I could not doubt ; there was no question about the chant ; I looked up, and round 

 and round ; followed the sound, so to speak, with my eye ; but the songster was not to 

 be seen : still I heard him, and still was he invisible ; until at last, I began to think I 

 was present at the " rehearsal " of the Prince Fortunatus of the woodlaiks. I went 

 home with my curiosity unsatisfied as to the whereabouts of my well-loved songster. 

 Two or three days after the mystery was solved. I was calling on a lady iu the neigh- 

 bourhood, and there, in a cage at her drawing-room window, hung the woodlark ; and 

 merrily he sung as I sat by. The window in question was some fifty or sixty yards 

 from the road in which I was walking when I first heard the note, but not to be seen 

 from the -road, through the intervention of a high wall. But still, though I, of neces- 

 sity, changed our (i. e. mine and the bird's) relative positions whenever I moved, the 

 sound ever seemed to be in the air above me. Now I have no theory to offer on this 

 matter, I state the simple facts, and I daresay a hundred other observers can confirm 

 them, if they do not think the task too trifling. I think that birds can produce some 

 such effects at mil. But I also suspect that some of them may be, or must be, ac- 

 counted for on other grounds than the mere volition of the bird that produces them. — 

 /. C. Atkinson ; 7, Belvoir Terrace, Scarborough, April 3rd, 1846. 



An account of the Birds found in Norfolk, with Notices of some of the 

 rarer Species which have occurred in the adjoining Counties. 

 By John H. Gurney, Esq., and William R. Fisher, Esq. 



(Continued from page 1324). 



Avocet, Recurvirostra avocetta. The avocet is occasionally killed 

 in spring, but is now a rare bird in Norfolk. It was formerly not un- 

 common, and nested habitually in some of the marshy parts of the 

 county. It is said that a colony which once bred in the marshes at 

 Salthouse, was destroyed in order to obtain the feathers, for the pur- 

 pose of making artificial flies. 



Black-winged Stilt, Himantopus melanopterus. Has occurred in 

 Norfolk several times, but is a very rare and uncertain visiter. We 

 may remark, that the changes of plumage to which this bird is subject, 

 appear to require further elucidation. 



Black-tailed Godwit, Limosa melanura. Of occasional occurrence, 

 chiefly during the months of spring and autumn. This species for- 

 merly nested somewhat freely in the marshy parts of Norfolk, but has 

 now very nearly ceased to do so. 



Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa rufa. Is found on our coast in the au- 

 tumnal months in considerable numbers, and occasionally during all 

 the other months of the year, but as far as we have ascertained has not 

 been known to breed in the county. It is, however, sometimes 



