ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORTH DEVON. 255 



White-tailed Eagles obtained in this county have been imma- 

 ture birds. 



I was glad to observe last spring a pair of Redshanks (Totanus 

 calidris) on Braunton marshes, which evidently had a nest in the 

 vicinity. I made a repeated search for the nest, and subsequently 

 the gamekeeper, Mr. J. Petherick, stumbled across the young birds 

 in a marsh not far from his house. The young were still unable 

 to fly, and were accompanied by the old birds in great distress. 

 Although the Redshank has often been suspected of breeding in 

 the north of Devon, I am not aware that the suspicion has been 

 hitherto definitely substantiated by fact. The only other record 

 I have seen of its nesting in the county is one made by Mr. 

 E. A. S. Elliott, who found young birds in June, 1894, at Slap- 

 ton Ley, South Devon. The keeper told me he had never known 

 the birds breed on the Braunton marshes before, nor had he ever 

 seen them there in the breeding season until now, and my own 

 observations agree with this. This year there were two pairs on 

 the marshes in April, but latterly only one pair. This pair I 

 have repeatedly watched, yet have not succeeded, nor has the 

 gamekeeper, in finding either the young or the eggs. 



On May 24th last the keeper showed me a nest of the Shoveler 

 (Spatula clypeata) situated in a marshy field near the duck-ponds 

 at the Taw estuary. The young birds had hatched out three 

 days before, but the down and feathers, together with the broken 

 egg-shells, were quite sufficient to bear out the statement of the 

 keeper, who saw the female sitting. He is a careful observer 

 of the birds of his district, and thinks a pair have bred on the 

 ponds every spring since 1906, the year I first recorded this 

 species as resident (Zool., January, 1907, p. 22). 



