MISCELLANEOUS NOTES FROM YARMOUTH. 363 



flock of Einged Plovers, whose gathering there had aroused my 

 interest. 



May 25th will be remembered by me as the day on which 

 my new houseboat (Moorhen II.) made her first voyage across 

 Breydon up the Kiver Waveney, and also by the considerable 

 number of Eedshanks that this spring nested on the surround- 

 ing marshes. At every bend and from every marsh the sharp- 

 winged birds sprang up, and with loud clamorous protest fussed 

 around. The Bure marshes, undoubtedly becoming drier each 

 year through improved drainage, are less and less peopled by 

 nesting birds. Here they more than held their own. I esti- 

 mated that there could not be less than one hundred pairs. A 

 dozen birds would be excitedly clanging their call-notes above 

 head at one time. 



Sailing down stream in my punt in the quiet evening, I 

 observed the " off-duty " birds bathing and feeding on the muddy 

 edges showing up here and there as the ebb-tide left them bare. 

 There was but the merest standing room, with their tails 

 touching the reed-stems, and their bills in the soft ooze, their 

 long sealing-wax-like legs reflecting lower still in the stream. 

 Here they made quite sideway hits, as Duck do when beginning 

 to bathe, and preened their feathers with wet mandibles. Those 

 that fed evidently were seeking insect-life rather than crustacean. 

 Here and there one alighted upon a gate-post or rail, and passed 

 on remarks to his companions as to what he thought of me — 

 "clat-clat-clattering" most persistently. I would like to have 

 known the purport of their clamour ! 



We do not get many Oystercatchers at Yarmouth, which is 

 curious, considering their numbers on the flats and shores of 

 the Wash. Of course, the vast areas of Mussels left exposed by 

 the ebb-tide are an attraction there. I considered seeing three 

 grand birds on the flats on May 28th worth noting. Six more 

 on June 19th. 



June 1st. — Several Common Sandpipers around Breydon. I 

 have a strong suspicion that odd pairs nest in the county, 

 although I have the record of but one nest being discovered 

 under a gooseberry bush at Hickling on May 25th, 1897. 



3rd. — Early this morning I was punting up Breydon when I 

 heard the whirring sound produced by an aeroplane above head. 



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