444 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



tide left the shore, when Books, Blackbirds, Thrushes, Sky- 

 Larks, Chaffinches, and other small birds were enabled to keep 

 alive. But the long-billed waders were in a bad plight also, 

 in consequence of the short time they had for feeding during the 

 ebbing of the tide, before the sands were hard frozen and quite 

 impervious to their soft, slender bills, probing the sand in 

 Bearch of Sand-eels and Lug-worms. Owing to the snow on 

 the ground under the furze and other bushes in the plantations, 

 very few Woodcocks were to be seen ; going through the planta- 

 tions to-day I only met five birds, one couple of which I shot, 

 being unlucky with the others. 



4th. — A very hard frost last night, and held all day, accom- 

 panied by a dense fog, as usual, forming beautiful crystals on 

 the trees and bushes. The birds are very weak, and still keep 

 to the shores. Some parts of the shore are coverd by ice left by 

 the ebb tides, while Kilanly Bay is one sheet of unbroken ice ; 

 there are also quantities among the islands near Beserk Abbey 

 and in many places connecting the islands with the Abbey land, 

 the channels between many of them being closed by fixed ice, 

 and no place left open for either Ducks or Wigeon to feed. 



5th.— Very little frost last night, but a bitter east wind 

 blowing this morning, and the birds are suffering very much 

 from this intense cold, as well as from want of food. The 

 increased cold caused by this was severely felt by the birds, 

 especially by the Starlings, many making attempts to enter the 

 house in search of warmth through the windows, wherever open, 

 and even going down the chimneys ; while others got into holes 

 under the eaves for shelter, and into the stables and cattle- 

 houses. Many were found dead in the places they went for 

 shelter. I found a Blackbird and Book dead, and met many 

 Curlews very weak, some being scarcely able to fly off when 

 approached, and in consequence of not being able to feed on 

 the sands, or in the open fields, they frequented the planta- 

 tions, searching for food, and along the hedges and sides of 

 fences. 



6th. — A thaw has set in very rapidly, melting the snow, but 

 it will take a long time before this heavy snowfall disappears. 



7th. — Thaw still continues, with rain, and large quantities of 

 sheet-ice are floating down with the ebb-tide from the upper 



