374 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



SEA-BIRDS AND PLOVERS NOTICED IN LANCA- 

 SHIRE AND CUMBERLAND. 



By Thomas Hepburn. 



The primary object of this trip — Walney Island, June 1st- 

 3rd ; Ravenglass, June 4th-5th ; Boot, June 6th-9th ; and 

 Arnside, June 10th-12th, 1901 — was to make myself better 

 acquainted by actual observation with the breeding habits of 

 some of our sea-birds and Plovers. There are numerous colonies 

 of Black-headed Gulls and Terns in the sand-hills and marshy 

 parts of Walney Island, and in the same style of country on 

 either side of the mouth of the Esk at Ravenglass. At Foulshaw 

 Moss, near Arnside, there is a large colony of Lesser Black- 

 backed Gulls ; and the margins of the tidal estuaries at Raven- 

 glass and Arnside, and the sea beaches at all three places, form 

 suitable haunts for various Waders and shore-loving birds. I 

 found, however, that I had timed my visit too late for the birds 

 breeding in the hills round Boot. 



Ringed Plover (JEgialitis hiaticula). — Walney Island. Pairs 

 of this bird were fairly numerous along the stretches of shingle 

 beach which form part of the coast-line of the island. 



Ravenglass. I found a nest in the sand-hills here, not 

 far from the sea, containing three eggs ; a cockle-shell, l£ in. 

 diameter, apparently taking the place of the fourth egg. The 

 nest was a careless hollow scratched out of the sand, 5^ in. 

 diameter by lg- in. deep, with a few pieces of broken shell in the 

 bottom. A nest was also shown me, which was made close 

 under the shelter of an overhanging sand-hummock, and from 

 which the young had just been hatched. The nest-hollow 

 was scraped out of the sloping side of the hummock, with 

 its projecting top about a foot over the nest, completely covering 

 it from the sky, while some coarse grass drooping over partly 

 concealed it in front. I could see the footprints of the young 

 birds going away from the edge of the nest, and picked up 



