NOTES AND QUERIES. 199 



of the Peewit ; large flocks of the latter bird were seen passing to and 

 fro, but fewer nests than usual were found, and throughout the 

 summer and autumn I heard of but one Peregrine Falcon preying 

 upon the Plovers at any time, which was not the case in former years. 

 As the winter advanced, a large number of Golden Plover were seen 

 at times frequenting the same locality as the Peewits, but their stay 

 was not prolonged — possibly the flooded meadows were not agreeable 

 to them — and if settling upon a favoured spot in company with or 

 near their crested relatives, the two species invariably separated on 

 rising and flew in opposite directions. 



At the end of September an immature female of the Honey 

 Buzzard was killed. It was in dark plumage, various shades of 

 brown predominating, especially upon its long and beautiful tail. Its 

 stomach was quite empty and body scantily nourished, but its 

 plumage was clean and bright, and not in the condition one often sees 

 in a lean, semi-starved creature. The river being in flood most of the 

 winter the conditions were unfavourable both for gun and rod. Teal 

 were scarce, and Wigeon only in fair quantity ; Snipe were often 

 abundant, but no extraordinary "bags" were made, and, although a 

 goodly number of Mallard were upon the water, only a few Pochard, 

 Tufted Duck, and Shovelers were seen or shot ; whilst such species 

 as Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goosander, &c, were very rare or altogether 

 wanting. Indeed, on some parts of the river the wildfowl shooting 

 was almost abandoned, not so much from the recognized paucity of 

 birds as from the difficulty of getting near them, and in one sense 

 this was fortunate, as the mild open weather had induced many of 

 the Duck tribe to show signs of the coming duty of nesting — by 

 frequent squabbles amongst themselves, and pairs rising and flying 

 around the noisy group below — and it seems the height of folly when 

 creatures are killed at such a time. Unlike the reported abundance 

 of Wild Geese upon the east coast and in some parts of Ireland, very 

 few visited us, and were seen during two or three of the milder days 

 at the beginning of February flying over the inundated meadows, but 

 they soon disappeared, and were not seen again when the waters had 

 somewhat abated, and the weather was much more severe. 



Several Bitterns frequented the same locality, and one if not two 

 were killed at distant points ; but now more than formerly a better 

 state of feeling for the protection of this beautiful and interesting 

 species seems to prevail in many quarters, and quite rightly too, as 

 often the birds were killed just for the sake of " killing something " ; 

 and the same remark may be applied, with the same or greater force, 



