NOTES AND QVERIES 557 



The Mode of Progression of the Phalacrocoracidse under Water.— 

 In the Cambridge Natural History volume on Birds, I happened the other 

 day to come across the following statment, apropos of the method employed 

 by the Phalacrocoracidce in swimming under water : " Both wings and feet 

 lending their aid to the performance." As far as the Shag (Phalacrocorax 

 graculus) is concerned — and it may, I think, be considered typical of the 

 genus — this statement is at variance with my own experience in the Ork- 

 neys, where I had the good fortune to see the bird in the act of swimming 

 below the surface. On the occasion to which I refer, we had rowed to a 

 small cave, in and near which the Shags were breeding in considerable 

 numbers. On the appearance of the boat at the cave-mouth, all the Shags 

 (between thirty and forty) with one accord tumbled off the ledges, dived into 

 the water, and made their way under the boat to the open sea beyond. The 

 floor of the cave was composed of smooth white sand, and covered with 

 about six feet of water, which made any mistake on our part practically 

 impossible. Every Shag that passed under us swam with its wings close 

 to its sides, and head and neck stretched well forward ; the feet alone were 

 used in propelling the bird forward. Under certain conditions — as, for 

 instance, in swimming in a confined area where collision with some object 

 is possible, or in doubling after an active fish — I do not doubt that the wings 

 are occasionally employed ; but in a straight " run " ahead I feel certain 

 that, as in the Colymbidce, the feet alone are used. — A. H. Meiklejohn 

 (Highworth, Ashford, Kent). 



Gannet in Somersetshire. — I have lately discovered, in a friend's 

 house, a fine adult specimen of a Gannet (Sula bassana), concerning which 

 the following particulars may prove of interest : — As long ago as 1890 a 

 labourer found the bird asleep about a mile from this village, and, thinking 

 it was a strayed Goose, attempted to pick it up. The bird resented 

 being handled, and the man therefore killed it. Subsequently my friend 

 obtained the bird, and had it preserved. — Charles B. Horsbrugh (Mar- 

 tock, Somerset). 



Early Jack-Snipe. — When Grouse-shooting with Mr. Assheton Smith 

 at Vaynol, North Wales, we twice flushed one of these birds (Gallinago 

 gallinula) on Aug. 28th. This is the earliest date I have ever seen this 

 bird in Britain. — J. Whitaker (Rainworth Lodge, Notts). 



Pectoral Sandpiper in Suffolk. — Mr. Arnold may be interested to 

 know that his Pectoral Sandpiper {ante, p. 521) is the fourth specimen of 

 Tringa maculata obtained in the county, all of which have occurred in the 

 same locality. The first, shot by the late Mr. N. F. Hele in Thorpe Mere, 

 on Oct. 5th, 1870, is now in the Hele Collection in the Ipswich Museum ; 

 the second was shot by myself not far from Thorpe Haven, Sept. 14th, 



