34 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



have caused the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals to agitate for 

 the amelioration of his lot. — J. E. Harting. 



AYES. 



Winter Notes from Winchester Water-meads. — September.— The 

 Peewits are gathering together now into large flocks, and are always flying 

 south by easy stages. On the 29th I came across a company of 500 or so 

 that had settled in a ploughed field, and was feeding in a dense mass and 

 chattering. I noticed in this case that a few individuals had separated 

 from the main body, and appeared to be acting as signals to any stragglers 

 that happened to be in the neighbourhood by flying, apparently aimlessly, 

 at a considerable height, and never straying far from their companions. On 

 this date I disturbed a Green Woodpecker from a small copse on the road- 

 side. We have not been visited yet by any Gulls ; the weather has been 

 clear and fine for the most part. 



October. — The first Gulls (Larus canus) arrived on the 7th, in a violent 

 storm of rain and wind, between 12 and 1 o'clock. They left us the next 

 day. T have noticed that these birds utter their sharp cries only when in 

 the act of arriving or departing, but when they are sailing leisurely over the 

 river here they are quite silent. The Sand Martins are collected in large 

 quantities by the end of October, and leave us, save for a few stragglers, by 

 the first week in November. On the 9th there were some birdcatchers in 

 water-meads, who had committed considerable havoc among the Goldfinches, 

 which are numerous here. A fine cock-bird was ensnared as I passed. 

 They had caught a Sparrowhawk, which had flown down into their nets 

 after the decoy-bird. The place which they had chosen for their unlawful 

 sport was entirely public, but the men were not in the least disconcerted. 

 On this date two solitary Peewits passed over, flying south. On the 13th 

 there were five Herring Gulls wheeling at a great height on the other 

 side of St. Catherine's Hill. On the 28th, during a journey to Oxford, I 

 noticed a large flight of Peewits and numerous Fieldfares iu the water- 

 meads on the north side of Winchester. The Gulls have not arrived per- 

 manently yet. 



November. — On the 1st a solitary Gull passed over College, flying 

 inland (west). The Jackdaws and Starlings, which nest in the loosened 

 stones of the College chapel, can be seen together with numerous Rooks in 

 water-meads. On the 6th the Pied Wagtails arrived in numbers, and one 

 bird frequents the College buildings. On the 17th a flock of thirty Gulls 

 arrived, and these birds have stayed all through the winter, their numbers 

 sometimes being increased by new-comers, and sometimes reduced by 

 absentees. On the 22nd two large flights passed over, and finally took a 

 southward course. A Herring Gull visited his congeners in water-meads, 



