108 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



on Dec. 30th, when my correspondent " saw some hundreds of flocks of 

 Green Plover and Golden, all flying from north to south ; they did not 

 alight. Two flocks of Geese or Swans going the same way. Wind E.N.E. ; 

 sleet." On Dec. 31st the wind was S.E., and there was a thaw, and all the 

 birds were noted as "all going back north." I was in England until 

 Dec. 25th, and on my return to Kilmanock I found Redwings and Field- 

 fares extremely numerous, but most of them left with the cold weather 

 about the middle of January. I have no reports from other light-stations 

 on the coast, but if procurable they will probably be found to confirm these 

 observations. — G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton (Kilmanock, New Ross, Co. 

 Wexford). 



Notes from Wales. — Whilst on a fortnight's visit to the west coast of 

 North Wales, in the beginning of July last, and on several occasions in 

 previous summers, I found certain birds common, which, although land 

 birds, are rather rare in the inland but not far distant county of Brecon. 

 Among these are the Red-backed Shrike, Corn Bunting [Emberiza miliaria), 

 and Nightjar. Possibly a supply of food which does not exist in the adjacent 

 inland districts is found near the sea, and is an attraction to these birds. 

 The Red-backed Shrike is common along this coast, frequenting the bramble 

 thickets and hedgerows. The Corn Bunting is abundant in the cultivated 

 belt between the sea and the hills, especially about Towyn, and attracts 

 attention by its rather harsh song, delivered generally from the top of a 

 stone wall. The Nightjar is common near the sea, about the rocky, wooded 

 hill-sides, where I could always hear its note in the evening. I have several 

 times seen this bird at dusk hawking over the sand-hills near the sea about 

 Barmouth. On the Merioneth coast the commonest bird seems to be the 

 Stonechat; the Kestrel is very common about the cliffs, and I have now and 

 then seen the Buzzard about the mountains above Barmouth. I saw, in 

 the collection of a naturalist living at Barmouth, eggs of the Peregrine 

 Falcon, Chough, and Manx Shearwater, all taken from a certain cliff on 

 this coast; also local eggs of the Buzzard and Golden Plover. On July 

 17th I made the ascent of the " Bird Rock," near Towyn, the well-known 

 breeding-place of the Cormorant and other cliff-nesting birds. With the aid 

 of an aneroid, I made the highest point of this picturesque crag to be about 

 650 ft. It certainly does not look so high, but the mountains by which it 

 is surrounded no doubt detract from its apparent height. The perpendicular 

 part of the rock on the north side, where the Cormorants nest, is probably 

 about 500 ft. high. The ascent from the west side is easy ; I went up by 

 this route, which winds up a rocky slope. The commonest birds here were 

 Stonechal8 and Wheatears, and I saw a few Ring Ouzels about the rocky 

 hollows, and a few Kestrels were screaming overhead. I saw no Peregrines, 

 but it is commonly stated that a pair nest yearly on the cliff. About a 

 dozen Cormorants were flying about the face of the precipice, the whitish 



