90 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



At the north end were many Sandwich Terns, which, how- 

 ever, did not yet seem to be laying. I had not time to examine 

 a large colony of the Great Crested Grebe, which I was told 

 existed at the southern extremity. The most interesting of the 

 inhabitants of Klsegbanken are the Little Gulls, a small colony 

 which has for some years nested here. Vegetation, according to 

 Dr. Eambusch, began to clothe the bank in 1880 ; in 1905 the 

 Little Gull was discovered breeding by Hr. E. Christensen, who 

 announced the find in the ' Transactions ' of the Naturhistorisk 

 Forening of Copenhagen (1905, pp. 245-249). In its nest and 

 eggs, as in its appearance and habits, the Little Gull is a minia- 

 ture of the Black-headed, but the nests of the Little Gull here 

 were on ground more open, at least in May, than what the 

 Black-headed usually occupies, being flat, and covered only 

 with a thin growth of rushes. It is to be hoped that the pro- 

 tection here afforded to this charming little species may lead to 

 a further extension of its breeding-range in North-western 

 Europe. 



Some Gull-billed Terns breed on the more open part of 

 Klasgbanken, and we saw some pairs of nesting Eedshanks, more 

 than might have been expected from the nature of the ground ; 

 one nest with eggs was placed deep among the tall reeds. On 

 the mud-flats were some immature Herring-Gulls, and a little 

 flock of Sanderlings in changing plumage. Klsegbanken is said 

 to be entirely submerged in winter, and even in summer the 

 extent above water varies very considerably. The mud in the 

 shallows around it is full of large bowl-like hollows, which Dr. 

 Eambusch says are caused by the wallowing of the Wild Swans, 

 which, with Geese, Ducks, and waders, frequent the place in 

 winter in immense numbers. 



Both on Tipperne and Klsegbanken I saw a few Common 

 Sandpipers on migration. 



The Skjernaa, as above mentioned, forms a delta, from the 

 point where, between the twin villages of Tarm and Skjern, it is 

 crossed by road and railway down to its outlet into the Fjord. 

 This is a wide level tract of marshy meadow, its many water- 

 channels bright, as they would be in England, with marsh- 

 marigold and cuckoo-flower. It is also rich in bird-life. God- 

 wits, Lapwings, Dunlins, Eedshanks, and Euffs nest on the 



