BIRD NOTES FROM CHESHIRE. 175 



though there were none on the big mere at Tatton, there were 

 over sixty Tufteds on the smaller and more secluded pool at 

 Booths. On March 14th, however, when the flocks of Mallards 

 on Tatton had dwindled down to some fifty birds, there were 

 perhaps one hundred Tufteds, but we failed to distinguish a 

 single Pochard. 



One or two small parties of Golden -eyes spent some time 

 on different waters, and in every case they were noticeably shy, 

 flying even sooner than the nervous Mallards. Four or five 

 were present on Budworth in the second week of December, 

 and early in January we noticed four on this water and four on 

 Oakmere. All these birds were either females or immature 

 males. 



During February and March several flocks of Siskins were 

 seen in different parts of the county. Parties frequented the 

 alders at Tabley, Chelford, and Heron Bridge near Chester, 

 and in the neighbourhood of Capesthorne they were seen at Old 

 Alderley, Monk's Heath, Redes Mere, and Siddington. Some 

 of these last-named flocks may, of course, have been the same 

 birds in different places, but the other situations where they 

 were noticed are widely separated. On March 25th Mr. S. G. 

 Cummings and I watched a large flock of Siskins in the fir- 

 woods at Burton in Wirral. The birds, the great majority of 

 which were males, were feeding amongst the slender branches of 

 a clump of larches. We could not be quite certain what they 

 were feeding upon, but it appeared to be the buds. Four days 

 later Mr. Oldham saw a single Siskin at Tabley, close to the spot 

 where flocks had been noticed several times earlier in the year. 



Bramblings were more plentiful than usual. The largest 

 flock we saw frequented some beech-trees that lined a country 

 lane near Goostrey ; here they several times far outnumbered the 

 Chaffinches, which were also feeding on the beech-mast. 



A few Jack-Snipe turned up during the frost, and on Dec. 7th 

 Mr. Oldham put up a Sanderling from the border of Budworth 

 Mere. The bird moved about from place to place, keeping, how- 

 ever, to the margin of the mere, and Mr. Oldham had several 

 opportunities of examining it at fairly close quarters. 



