NOTES FROM QBE AT YARMOUTH. 377 



bill would have been scarcely strong enough to split the shell, 

 and, had it been, the kernel would have been more deeply in- 

 dented. Mr. J. H. Gurney suggested that as it seemed impossible 

 Starlings could have attacked them, he thought Nuthatches had 

 done so; or, peradventure, Squirrels, which seems to me unlikely. 

 Mr. Gurney also remarked, " I never knew a case of Nuthatches 

 eating walnuts before, although I have watched Rooks eating 

 them." 



The first recorded Waxwing (Ampclis garrulus) of the latest 

 invasion of that species came into my hands on November 15th 

 from St. Olaves, having been sent to me by a farmer who had 

 observed it bustling about in his trees. Numbers were after- 

 wards seen in the neighbourhood, small tame flocks appearing 

 in back gardens of well-populated localities. Several were 

 brought to market, where one of the best old birds I ever saw 

 was procured for a few pence. It had wax tips to the tail 

 feathers, as well as on the wings, and a ruddy tint was observable 

 well up the feather shafts. A friend writing to me from 

 Sheringham on January 11th, 1914, noticed their partiality for 

 the " haws of the brier roses," and their seemingly very thirsty 

 natures — they were constantly sipping at a fountain in the 

 garden. 



Six Waxwings came to the garden of a Gorleston gentleman, 

 where the berries of the privet hedge were eagerly seized by 

 them ; so tame and confiding were they that both he and his 

 wife observed the minutest details of their plumage, and 

 graphically described their colours as well as actions. 



January 3rd. — A short snap of cold weather early in January 

 accounted for a display of very small birds in the Saturday's 

 market, mostly Blackbirds, a species esteemed delicate eating in 

 East Norfolk. A live freshly-trapped Hawfinch was also on 

 sale. A few Teal, Goldeneyes, and Woodcocks were observed in 

 a game-dealer's shop. 



January 24th. — I observed that the Gulls haunting the beach 

 were still terrified at the movements of the locally herded 

 aeroplanes, but later in the year the usual hordes of Greater 

 Black-backs then frequenting Breydon had become somewhat 

 less astonished at their flight, which so much resembles the 

 movements oi some great Falcon. 

 Zool. 4th ser. vol. XVIII., October, 1914. 2 g 



