3G6 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



October 29///. — A tired-out Woodcock found sitting asleep in 

 a doorway in the heart of the town. Gulls getting woefully short 

 of Herring refuse. 



Mr. Woods showed me to-day (November 5th) his pet Eed- 

 breast. He had collected some Cockchafer larvae in a tin, and 

 whistled, when out from a maze of bushes came " Bob, the 

 Englisher," as the park-keeper termed it, and picked off a grub 

 that had been placed on the toe of his boot. " Bob " only takes 

 two as a meal, and flits away to hiding, turning up when hungry 

 again in the neighbourhood of its patron, whom it finds in any 

 part of the park where he may be working. The bird allows no 

 intruders in his own especial quarters : he is not so pugnacious 

 though as the "foreigners." "Bob," on seizing a grub, and 

 repairing with it to a twig, first pecks out and destroys the head 

 before swallowing the remainder. 



On this date I received a note from Mr. Julian Tuck stating 

 that an Eider-Duck had been hooked on a line over Britannia 

 Pier a few days since by an Ipswich sea-angler. He saw it 

 alive at the museum on the previous day ; it ate cut-up 

 Herrings. 



November 12th. — A windy day, blowing fresh from the 

 N.-W. All day a concourse of Great Gulls flew around high 

 above the town hall, wheeling in great circles — a habit I have 

 noticed several times in recent years. 



Mr. Pi. Beazor, fish merchant, informs me to-day (21st) that 

 a fishing boat had brought in several crans of Herrings con- 

 siderably scored on their sides ; the fishermen had assured him 

 that these wounds had been caused by Gannets, of which some 

 considerable number had frequented the Herring-grounds. 



November 27th. — Straggling flocks of Eooks coming over 

 from seawards. 



Writing to the ' Anglers' News ' under date of November 

 19th, Mr. G. A. Whistler, of Aldeburgh-on-Sea, states that he 

 saw a flock of Hooded Crows arrive in a tired condition : " One 

 detached itself from the others, and, evidently exhausted, 

 dropped in the sea. It seemed to rest and swim easily close 

 inshore, and as I approached it rose and flew to the beach. 

 There I got within a yard or two of it, but with an effort it 

 struggled up once more and winged its way, in desultory fashion, 



