362 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



March 4th. — A number of northward-bound Eedwings passed 

 over, with large flocks of Corvida following in their wake. On 

 March 14th Eedwings were still plentifully flying N.E., whilst 

 Blackbirds could be distinctly heard above head on the drizzly 

 nights prevailing at the end of the month and early in April. 



Nearly two hundred Wigeon on Breydon on March 17th. 

 We still annually get a goodly number, week after week, during 

 the period of the spring migration, the birds being attracted, as 

 they have been probably for centuries past, by the Zostera marina 

 clothing the mud-flats. 



Water-Kails would seem to run some risk when making for 

 their spring quarters. Two were shown to me in the earlier 

 half of April that had come to grief, probably from contact with 

 telegraph-wires. The first had entered a cellar on the quay-side ; 

 the second, with its breast bared of feathers and two rather bad 

 bruises, was penned in a cage in the cattle sale-ground, and 

 kept there for my inspection. 



On May 2nd a Land-Kail, another species much given to 

 eccentric movements, was shown to me in a cage, having entered 

 the cellar of a public-house, causing some diversion in the hunt 

 for it among leaden pipes and ale -barrels. 



May 9th. — Three pairs of Swifts wheeling around on the 

 quay-side in a somewhat unsettled manner ; an old-time haunt 

 of theirs having been effectually done away with last year, they 

 seem at a loss where to settle. They eventually, with other 

 arrivals, distributed themselves around in various directions, 

 one pair finding nesting quarters in quite a new house. 



On May 11th, the atmosphere being warm and heavy, insects 

 flew low, many falling into the water, and were drifted by the 

 tide on to the mud, to the delight of a number of Starlings and 

 other foraging insect-loving birds. Bibio marci was greatly in 

 evidence, and there were myriads of those other smaller Diptera 

 which prove such a nuisance to painters. I myself was greatly 

 annoyed by the swarm that, drifted by the light air and maybe 

 attracted by some aroma from my paint, smothered the sides of 

 my freshly painted houseboat. 



A high tide on May 19th drove all the small spring Waders 

 from the flats. I had an unpleasant episode with a bull 

 and some heifers on one marsh when on the track of a big 



