184 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Teesmouth from N. to S. in some numbers ; on the 4tli, six ; the 

 8th, five (four old and one young); 14th, nine (eight old and one 

 young); ir)th, forty- three; KUh, three; 18th, two ; the 20th, ten at 

 10 a.m., and ninety-five at 11 a.m. On the 18th a Hock of thirty 

 was seen near Sx^urn, one old white bird acting as pilot, the 

 remainder all young, in the brown plumage. Two Bewick's Swans 

 were shot on the Humber on the 8th. Four passed the Kentish 

 Knock, on Dec. 4tli, 2.15 p.m., N.E. to S.W. Two Swans, which 

 may have been " escaped birds" from some private waters, passed 

 the Teesmouth on Sept. 80th, 10 a.m., flying S.E. Geese were 

 observed at several stations both north and south of the Humber, 

 going south from Aug. 18th to Dec. 13th, the main bod}^ passing 

 south during the last half of November and in December. Brent 

 or "Black Geese" are noted at the Gorton, going south, July 18th, 

 twelve ; July 30th, two flocks of from thirty to forty ; on Sept. 17th, 

 thirty. These are very early dates for Brent Geese, t Mr. Cotton, 

 the observer, might have possibly been led into an error by passing 

 flocks of black Scoters. As, however, "black ducks" are frequently 

 mentioned in his return, this could hardly be the case, and he 

 appears very well able to discriminate between the two. At the 

 Gorton, Dec. 4th, hundreds of black geese from N.E. to S.W. from 

 sunrise to noon— i. e., towards the mouth of the Thames or Essex 

 coast. As might have been expected, large flocks of Ducks are 

 constantly noted, so frequentl}^ indeed, as to defy repetition ; this 

 is more particularl}^ the case in the returns from the lightships. 

 They are noted sometimes flying S.. from the land or to the land, 

 and in fact in every direction. Many of these would be local flo.cks 

 going to and from their feeding grounds. Immense numbers, how- 

 ever, coming from the north, passed along the coast in November 

 and December. At Goquet Island, on Dec. 14th, 3 a.m., N.W., 

 blowing a gale, two Eider Ducks (spelt phonetically, "Ida" in 

 the report) struck lantern and one was killed. 



Red-throated Diver, ColymhiCs septeiitrionalis. — Red-throated 

 Divers and Mergansers are mentioned in the report from Tees- 

 mouth during November. With regard to the first of these, 

 Mr. Giitke sends the following curious note, dated Dec. 22nd, 

 1879 : — ^^ Colymhus septentrionalis, almost by the million. During 



t Major C. Russell, writing from Essex, says, " The earliest occurrence of Brent 

 Geese on our coast I ever remember hearing of was Sept. 29th, when many years 

 ago one of our coast gunners, still living, killed -ten at a shot." 



