NOTES AND QUERIES. 137 



with an ordinary gun. On Feb. 14th a Green Cormorant was shot in the 

 river, by a Redcar fisherman ; the Shag is, in my experience, a rather rare 

 bird in this district. On the 15th I purchased a Red-necked Grebe in 

 winter plumage, which had been picked up alive on the sands. About the 

 end of May a Grey Plover, in full breeding plumage, was shot by the river- 

 side near Lackenby. During the summer a local taxidermist had four 

 young Hawfinches brought to him, and he is of opinion they were from two 

 different broods : two of them (male and female) he reared, and they are 

 now thriving and in good plumage. It would not be advisable to mention 

 the exact locality where the nests were found, but it was within a mile or 

 two of Redcar. During the middle and latter part of August shore birds 

 arrived in considerable numbers. About twenty Little Stints and two 

 or three Pigmy Curlews were shot ; two of the latter were adult birds. 

 Knots and Turnstones were also very numerous towards the end of the 

 month ; two of the former with red breasts were procured. On Aug. 30th, 

 and for several days afterwards, Sandwich Terns passed to the S. in small 

 parties of three or four. While off in a boat, E. of Redcar, I shot two, 

 both mature examples. On Sept. 6th my friend Dr. Kershaw shot a 

 Pigmy Curlew, with partly red breast, from a flock of Dunlins ; and on the 

 9th he shot an immature specimen of Buffon's Skua on Coatham Sands. 

 The Skua tribe was well represented in September, chiefly S. parasiticus, 

 but on one occasion — when sailing between Kedcar and Saltburn — I noticed 

 several S. pomatorhinus in adult plumage. On the 11th a large flight of 

 Duck and Wigeon passed during a N.E. gale. I shot two of the latter, 

 both immature birds. On Oct. 6th I purchased an immature example of 

 Sabine's Gull, which had been killed in Tees Bay. On the 12th (N. gale, 

 rain) a great flight of Ducks, also a few Hooded Crows and Woodcock ; two 

 Spotted Crakes were obtained on the marshes near Middlesbro'. On the 

 13th (N. wind, light) Larks and Hooded Crows crossed in large numbers. 

 A Fulmar Petrel was taken in a rather extraordinary manner ; it alighted 

 on the water, near the wreck of a screw-steamer on which some fishermen 

 were working : one of them put off in a small boat, and, rowing towards 

 the bird, threw a piece of wood at it, which hit it on the head and stunned 

 it. I examined a Peregrine Falcon which had been shot near Ingleby, in 

 Cleveland, and brought to the Middlesbro' taxidermist to preserve. On 

 Nov. 23rd a Rose-coloured Pastor, the first I have known in this neigh- 

 bourhood, was shot at W. Coatham, and taken to our local bird-stuffer. 

 Early in January of the present year T. was informed that some Shore Larks 

 had been observed at the Tees Mouth. On the 29th one was shot, and I 

 went out several times to see if I could fall in with them, but, although I 

 saw a few each time, they were very wild, and I was not successful in 

 getting a shot ; but on Feb. 14th I managed to secure six, and saw seven 

 or eight others feeding among the rough grass near the shore edge. During 

 ZOOLOGIST. — APRIL, 1890. M 



