10 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Golden Plover met with. Snipe also are said to be more 

 numerous than usual this season. 



A few notes of my first two days' punt-shooting this season may 

 interest some of your readers, as showing the variety of birds met 

 with, as well as some of the successes and disappointments of the 

 wildfowl shooter, and the hardships that have occasionally to be 

 undergone. 



On the 28th October I launched my punt, and having got 

 everything on board, I pushed off from the shore for Bartragh, 

 and observing some birds about half-a-mile away, I took them 

 to be Mergansers, from seeing some of them diving ; however, on 

 approaching nearer, the Mergansers made off, leaving twenty 

 ducks behind them, which my glass showed to be Pintails. These 

 swam into the bank, some walking up on it, and began pluming 

 themselves, while others remained in the water, but all so 

 scattered and far asunder that they offered no prospect of a good 

 shot when within range. I had no choice but to fire at those 

 nearest, and knocked over five birds, but secured only four, an old 

 female and two young ones, and a young male just showing a few 

 grey feathers on the thighs. My shot disturbed a large number 

 of Lapwings and a large stand of 500 or 600 Golden Plover, and 

 these after a time pitched far in on the sand-bank, quite out of 

 shot from the water. Seeing there was no chance of getting 

 at the Plover, I continued my way down the channel to Bartragh. 

 When turning round a bend of the channel I saw from behind a 

 point of sand a number of heads stretched up watching, and on 

 getting a little nearer, I found they were a lot of Mergansers 

 (about fifty), resting after their morning's fishing; some were on 

 the bank, while others were in the water, playing about, the old 

 males chasing each other, and performing all sorts of odd-looking 

 antics, such as only Mergansers can go on with. Not caring to 

 fire at such worthless birds, I passed on to the stony flat on the 

 Scurmore side of the channel, where I saw about 150 Wigeon 

 feeding amongst the stones. On hearing some Curlew screaming 

 an alarm, they all rose and pitched in the water outside the flat, 

 but shortly after returned to feed, scattering in all directions so 

 widely over the flats that they offered such a poor mark for a 

 shot that, when I brought up the punt and fired at those nearest, 

 I knocked down only eight birds. Four of these so effectually 

 hid themselves in the long sea-weed on the stones before I landed 



