424 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



with the other waders. The first party— eight birds— I saw on 

 April 28th ; two of these were old birds with white heads and 

 much brighter orange legs than the younger birds. They were 

 feeding amongst the stones, turning them over with a smart 

 upward throw, and immediately darting upon anything which 

 had been concealed beneath. On May 29th Mr. Aplin and I 

 watched a strange gathering of birds at the spot on the beach 

 where the White Wagtails were always to be found. A number 

 of domestic fowls had come down from the little whitewashed 

 cottage close to the shore, and were scratching in the damp sand 

 near to and beneath the drifted and rotting seaweed. Amongst 

 them half a dozen Turnstones were eagerly feeding, some of 

 them following the fowls and carefully examining the raked-up 

 sand and small stones. A number of Starlings, a few White 

 Wagtails, and one or two Swallows, which occasionally settled 

 on the weed to feed, completed the strange gathering, which, in 

 the strong light on the blue-grey rocks and rich red weed, made 

 a beautiful as well as curious picture. Two of the Turnstones 

 were old birds with rich chestnut backs and very white heads. 

 When we examined the sand where the birds were so busy, we 

 found a small grub, which appeared to be the larva of some 

 dipterous fly, buried in the sand beneath the decomposing 

 seaweed. 



Woodcock. — In a wood near Beaumaris I flushed a Woodcock 

 from the dry bed of a stream on June 7th. It flew through the 

 wood, dodging round trees, but keeping to the line of the ditch. 

 I followed the ditch, and shortly came upon the bird standing in 

 the ditch motionless, its bill almost touching the ground. When 

 it rose again I lost sight of it. The keeper has never known the 

 bird to nest in these woods, but they are good places for " cock " 

 in autumn. 



Little Stint. — On April 28th a couple of Little Stints were 

 on the beach with some Einged Plovers ; one bird, presumably a 

 female, was slightly larger than the other. The birds were in 

 summer dress, with rufous breasts, hardly so warm as the breasts 

 of Sanderlings at this season. At first they fed with some 

 Turnstones, which looked giants beside them. At times they 

 pushed their bills deeply into the sand, but usually pecked after 

 the manner of Sanderlings ; indeed, though in plumage they 



