AUTUMN NOTES FROM THE NORFOLK COAST. 149 



at Blakeney : they were very wild, but, as far as I could see with 

 the glasses, they were all young birds, probably bred on the 

 " meals" towards Wells. The next morning two Shovellers flew 

 in, apparently from the sea. From the position of their wings, 

 which are set on very far back, I guessed what they were, and 

 in the afternoon they passed close enough for us to see them, 

 and their large, ugly beaks, plainly. One Teal was seen the 

 same day. 



Most of the Terns had left; but we saw seven or eight 

 Common Terns on the 2nd, and two on the 8th. Lesser Terns 

 were met with on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 8th ; five on the first 

 day; one adult shot was losing the black on the crown. An 

 immature bird shot on the 5th was — according to the local 

 stuffer — in a plumage in which they are not often procured there. 

 So perhaps the young birds go south soon after they can fly. 

 This idea is borne out by what I have observed in the esse of 

 Common Terns shot in Oxfordshire : there they often occur 

 rather late in autumn, and the specimens procured at that season 

 are almost always adult birds. 



During this visit I noticed a good many Great Black-backed 

 Gulls. Eleven, chiefly adult birds, sitting on the green marsh 

 on the 3rd looked almost as large as sheep. Common Gulls in 

 grey dress were numerous. F. C. A. shot one which was only 

 just fledged and had quite a soft beak. A good many Herring 

 and some Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Black-headed Gulls in 

 swarms ; all adults had lost the black hood. On the 6th, in the 

 still, hot afternoon these birds were hawking flies, with the 

 motions of Starlings under the same circumstances, over the 

 starwort-grown mud. The same day Gulls (a good many of 

 them Great Black-backed) were passing west all the afternoon. 



There were some Razorbills off the beach on several days. 

 Oh the 5th I saw one, in summer dress, going west. On the 6th 

 one, an immature bird, quite close to shore, and another further 

 out, going in the same direction. The next day there were 

 several a little way out. I was assured that they constantly 

 occurred when still in down, and I have seen a very young one, 

 procured off the beach, preserved. A careful observer assures 

 me he once saw an old Razorbill there accompanied by two young 

 ones, and that she looked from side to side at them, and took 

 great care of both. An old Great Crested Grebe appeared off the 



