ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORTH DEVON. 25 



Guillemots and Kittiwakes numerous, and a large flock of 

 Terns. 



28th. — At Lundy again. All the birds except the Herring- 

 Gulls departed. 



September 14th. — A few Whimbrel on the Taw ; also a pair 

 of Greenshanks — a rare bird in North Devon. Eescued an 

 exhausted Guillemot from the river to-day. It could not move 

 any part of its body except its neck, which it feebly turned round 

 when I approached it from behind. Three weeks after this a 

 Heron was brought to me, which had been caught when in appa- 

 rently the same helpless condition. It was extremely emaciated. 

 I cannot account for this, as the weather has been very mild 

 here up to the present. 



18th. — Common Gulls in some numbers on the river. A 

 Curlew- Sandpiper has been frequenting the Taw for some 

 weeks past. It was very tame, allowing me to examine it well. 

 Redshanks and Bar-tailed Godwit fairly plentiful this year, 

 but the former is never common, and is much rarer than it used 

 to be. 



30th. — A Little Stint has been shot on the river near Barn- 

 staple, and a Puffin in the bay near Appledore. Razorbills and 

 Guillemots are seen commonly in the summer months off the 

 north coast of Devon, but Puffins rarely, and none of them so late 

 in the year as was this specimen. Little Grebes and Kingfishers 

 returned to the estuary to winter. 



October 12th. — A Cormorant shot at Black Torrington, about 

 twelve miles from the coast ; it was discovered by some local 

 gunners perched on the church-tower, some sixty feet high. 



13th. — A Green Sandpiper for a fortnight past has been 

 observed continually on the ponds and guts in the marshes ad- 

 joining the river near Fremington. 



14th. — The Kingfisher has to alter its tactics when fishing in 

 the estuary. There are no convenient boughs where it can sit 

 and watch, so it hovers over the water after the fashion of the 

 Kestrel, and on seeing a fish darts down in the usual manner. I 

 saw a pair off the coast at Down End Point, Santon, fishing in 

 this way. They were very noisy, screaming continually, and 

 seemed to be quite unaccustomed to the big waves. They often 

 had to move suddenly to escape a severe ducking. It was strange 



