414 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Menai Bridge. On May 19th, when we first visited this pool, we 

 found the floating nest of a Dabchick moored in a bed of 

 Equisetum ; and, on removing the sodden covering of weed, we 

 found five eggs, four belonging to the legitimate owner, and one 

 being that of a Moorhen. The only other spot where we met 

 with the Dabchick was onLlyn Llwydiarth, where we saw a pair 

 on June 9th. 



At dusk we heard the churring of the Nightjar in many parts 

 of the sand-hills. In one place we saw a pair of Merlins which 

 were evidently nesting ; we were also shown eggs which had 

 been taken from a nest in the maram-grass more than two miles 

 from this spot. A colony of about forty pairs of Common Terns 

 had their nests on the summits of the sand-hills near Aber Menai 

 Point, and a few pairs of Lesser Terns had eggs in the shingle 

 in the same locality, and on the sands of the Malldraeth Estuary. 

 On June 12th, when we were near the colony of Common Terns, 

 two Great Black-backed Gulls passed over ; they were hotly 

 pursued by the Terns, as were the Herring- Gulls which drifted 

 by from time to time. When the' big Gulls pitched on the sand 

 we could see that one was an adult, and the other not fully 

 mature, having the back lighter, and the tail tipped with black. 

 On this day we found eggs of the Oystercatcher and Ringed 

 Plover near Aber Menai. Both species were plentiful along 

 the beach, the former often in flocks ; the previous day we saw 

 between fifty and sixty on the saltings near Malldraeth. Black- 

 headed Gulls were abundant in the upper part of the estuary. 



During May and June the majority of the Curlews are on 

 their breeding-grounds, but we saw a few in the Straits, and on 

 the Malldraeth Estuary. The Whimbrel, however, is more in 

 evidence at this time ; we saw the bird near Beaumaris, in the 

 Straits below the Bridges, and in Malldraeth Estuary. On May 

 18th we watched a party of twelve at low water on the shore 

 below Llanidan. Their characteristic cry, uttered especially on 

 the wing, first drew our attention to the birds, which were feeding 

 on the exposed banks, or wading belly-deep in the pools. In the 

 strong sunlight the light stripe on the crown was very conspicuous 

 when the birds lowered their heads to feed. 



Malldraeth Estuary at low water is a broad expanse of sand, 

 with many shallow lagoons, separated from the Warren by an 



