392 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



and the like it might find on the waste ground surrounding it- 

 It measured 7j in. I have since discovered that some peripatetic 

 naturalist had early in the summer travelled from town to town 

 with a barrow-load of Land Tortoises, with a few of the specimens 

 of the Pond Tortoise. Mr. F. C. Cook knows of one that 

 wandered into a relative's back garden and has lived there since, 

 moistening itself in a gutter in the vicinity of a water-tap. 



Knots came to Breydon in some numbers on September 1st ; 

 and, thanks to their innocence and tameness, quite a consider- 

 able number have been shot by "shoulder-gunners" who haunt 

 Breydon walls or creep around the flats in punts directly a few 

 waders are reported coming in. 



September 3rd. — A few immature Sheld-Ducks on Breydon. 



Wheatears during the first weeks of September had gathered 

 in some numbers on the outskirts of the town. 



September 14th. — Several flocks of Starlings, some of them 

 containing numerous birds, have been lately coming in from the 

 east, flying from east to west from over sea. It has occurred 

 to me that this premature immigration may be due to the dis- 

 turbing factors of battle, which have probably driven them in 

 terror from their Continental marshes. I make this suggestion 

 for what it is worth. I have on one or two occasions observed 

 Gulls flying in from the North Sea in so wild and erratic a 

 fashion as to suggest that the explosions at sea may have 

 disturbed them ; their coming curiously synchronized with 

 reported sea-fights. 



