NOTES AND QUERIES. 395 



tip of the bill was very bright, the inside of the mouth orange-red, like 

 that of a young Cuckoo, and the legs and feet pale brownish grey. 

 Sabine's Gull in immature plumage has either been more frequently 

 obtained or more often recognized of late years than formerly, but in 

 the second edition of his 'Manual,' Mr. Saunders was only able to 

 enumerate the occurrence of six adults. One of these was shot in 

 Bridlington Bay in August, 1872 (Zool. 1872, p. 3316).— Julian G. 

 Tuck (Tostock Rectory, Bury St. Edmunds). 



Sea-bird Slaughter. — What I wrote on this subject in ' The 

 Zoologist ' (ante, p. 354) was fully confirmed by the events of the first 

 few days in September. A resident in Bridlington told me that one 

 shooter obtained twelve dozen birds in one day, and I think it is no 

 exaggeration to say that for the first few days of September the number 

 of birds shot (chiefly Terns and Kittiwakes) averaged over a hundred 

 a day. Mr. Oxley Grabham has pointed out (Zool. 1901, p. 228) that 

 there is a market for them at sixpence each, and this statement exactly 

 agrees with information given to me on very good authority. A 

 wounded Tern fluttering in the water acts as a decoy, and brings 

 others up to the boat, or a dead bird thrown up and allowed to fall 

 into the sea is used in the same way. There are two classes of 

 shooters from which the sea-birds suffer : the shooter for the millinery 

 market referred to above, and the shooter who fires for his own 

 amusement at anything from a downy Guillemot upwards, and often 

 does not even care to pick up his birds. I believe there is now some- 

 what stringent legal protection afforded to the sea-birds on the east 

 coast of the United States, and a pretty sharp look-out is kept on any 

 boat from which a gun is fired. While there are no easier birds to 

 shoot than the Terns and "Kitties," there are no birds more difficult 

 to shoot without being detected, as the killing is done on the open 

 water, and when there is light enough to shoot by, the boat can be 

 watched. If only Yorkshire naturalists could see their way to agitate 

 either for a close-time still more extended, or the absolute protection 

 of certain birds all the year round, they might feel certain of the sup- 

 port and co-operation of their brethren elsewhere, for the Terns which 

 pass down the Yorkshire coast in late summer and early autumn have 

 more than a local interest. There can be little doubt that they are 

 the identical birds protected at considerable cost and with much trouble 

 at their breeding-grounds on the Fame Islands. — Julian G. Tuck 

 (Tostock Rectory, Bury St. Edmunds). 



