ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORFOLK. 89 



In 1901 we had a great wave ; in 1905 little or nothing was seen. 

 I often think if the rarities which are identified on the projecting 

 coast of Norfolk by day could be exchanged for those which pass 

 unidentified by night, what a far greater number of them there 

 would be. 



October was a very fine month, and therefore blank. Novem- 

 ber was principally noticeable for the presence of a Flamingo, 

 which may have escaped, but it neither belonged to the Duke of 

 Bedford nor to Mr. W. H. St. Quintin, who keep these birds in their 

 parks. Lapland Buntings were also more in evidence than they 

 have been since 1892, though, indeed, they are annual visitors. 



December set in rainy and unsettled. On the night of the 

 16th we had 16° of frost, followed by a thick fog which lasted for 

 several days. Early one morning an incident happened which 

 is not unusual on misty nights. A great flock of Starlings 

 which had lost their way settled on the roof and lantern-gallery 

 of Happisburgh lighthouse, where, bewildered by its light shining 

 through the mist, they stayed from one a.m. until daybreak 

 (J. Gentry). It was the largest number of Starlings the prin- 

 cipal had ever seen during an experience of over thirty years. 

 On another night he secured a few Wigeon and Plover. 



Mr. A. Patterson sends another anecdote of the same nature, 

 which can be related here. One drizzly night in October (d. u.) 

 four Woodcocks struck the lantern of the ' Leman and Ower ' 

 light-vessel, and, falling on deck, were all secured. On four 

 other occasions single Woodcocks had struck, always making 

 for the white and not the red light. Mr. Patterson also writes 

 of a Dabchick which came on board a fishing-boat some forty 

 miles from land on Oct. 12th, and, striking against the cook's 

 "galley," was forthwith taken ; and of a Buzzard which visited 

 one of the light-vessels. 



The birds deserving to be called rarities during 1904 have 

 been: — January: Sea-Eagle, two Bed-crested Ducks (Suffolk), 

 Citril Finch. February : Black Kedstart. April : Serin Finch. 

 May : Two Avocets, seven Spoonbills. September : Pectoral 

 Sandpiper (Suffolk), Aquatic Warbler, Ortolan, Bed-breasted 

 Flycatcher. October : Four Lapland Buntings. November : 

 Five Lapland Buntings, Flamingo (?). 



A good many occurrences of birds are often notified to the 



