168 tHE ZOOLOGIST. 



An old mud-boat, moored in a secluded part of the river, was for 

 some time a favourite fishing- station with a pair. This boat, 

 being often more or less full of water, was also used by Turtle 

 Doves, either for drinking or bathing purposes; I more than 

 once saw one of these birds fly out from it. 



Winter Migrants. — Grey Crows were first seen on Oct. 18th, 

 when two of these birds were noticed at Iken flying inland, and 

 following more or less the course of the river. On the same day 

 a great many small parties of Sky Larks kept crossing the river 

 at intervals, going in a westerly direction : these I took to be 

 fresh arrivals. On the 20th great numbers of Grey Crows, 

 Rooks, Jackdaws, and Starlings were seen coming from over 

 the sea near Leiston, both by my brother and also by persons 

 rabbitting in a field close to the beach, near the same village. 



Starlings. — Almost every evening throughout the greater 

 part of October and beginning of November, large numbers of 

 Starlings were seen crossing the river near Snape Bridge, going 

 east, or rather south of east. Sometimes they flew in numerous 

 small detached parties, at others in one or more large flocks, and 

 were first observed on Oct. 9th. On one occasion I witnessed a 

 remarkable aerial feat performed by these birds. Several small 

 flocks had already passed, when a larger one, after forming 

 into a compact horizontal column, suddenly turned a complete 

 somersault, like the sail of a windmill, immediately afterwards 

 resuming the steady, straight course usually adopted at such 

 times. The apparent unity of will and purpose which directs 

 the movements of an entire flock of birds of certain kinds is cer- 

 tainly very remarkable ; and it would be interesting to learn how 

 any particular bird becomes qualified to act as leader, as well as 

 by what means he can enforce such complete and wonderfully 

 prompt obedience. We often see flocks containing hundreds or 

 even thousands of birds, such as Starlings, Dunlins, Plovers, &c, 

 execute various movements with such wonderful precision as to 

 appear as if actuated by one common impulse. On the evening 

 of Nov. 2nd a very large flock passed over, flying in a line of no 

 great width, but which could not have been less than half a mile 

 in length, and was probably a good deal more. After watching 

 this flock for some time, the rear end of the column was still out 

 of sight. Afterwards a second and much smaller flock, though 

 containing several hundreds of birds, followed in the wake. These 



