8828 



Birds, 



place, in May last. In this state of plumage I fancy it must be rare. — J. Edmund 



Harting ; Kingsbury, Middlesex, October 7, 1863. 



The Rednecked Phalarope near Chichester. — On the 25th September a rednecked 

 phalarope was shot while swimming on a pond near here. It appears to be a bird of 

 the year, and when compared with a gray phalarope received the same day from 

 Sidlesham the difference was very striking. Three or four were seen about the pond 

 a day or two before, and were mistaken for sandpipers. — W. Jeffery,jun. ; Ratham, 

 Chichester, October 6, 1863. 



Gray Phalarope near Greenock. — I beg to record the capture, in this neighbour- 

 hood, on the 6th instant, of the gray phalarope. — John Kerr ; 9, West Steward Street, 

 Greenock, October 9, 1863. 



A List of Waders that have occurred at Kingsbury Reservoir during 

 the Summer of 1863. By J. Edmund Harting, Esq. 



Amongst our annual summer visitants are to be included many of 

 the Grallatores or waders, which arrive here in May and August, on 

 their migration to and from their breeding-places in the North. 



This year we have been visited by no less than ten species, in the 

 enumeration of which I have adopted the order observed in Mr. Yar- 

 rell's admirable system. 



1. Ringed Plover [Charadrius hiaticula). Appeared for the first 

 time in May, in twos and threes, and remained about our Reservoir 

 some days, during which time several were shot. After an absence of 

 about seven weeks this species reappeared in small flocks of from 

 eight to twenty, and young birds as well as old were then to be seen. 

 A young male which I shot towards the end of July accorded well 

 with the description given in YarrelPs 6 British Birds,' having the 

 beak almost entirely black ; no black band over the white on the fore- 

 head ; the lore, ear-coverts, and collar round the lower part of the 

 neck only, dusky ; and the legs and toes pale yellow. The stomachs 

 of all that I have examined contained either the remains of small 

 beetles and worms, or a mass of semi-digested vegetable matter, 

 sometimes both, and invariably some small particles of sand or gravel. 

 Yarrell says that the ringed plovers " pair and go to nest early in the 

 season, 1 ' and mentions the fact of Mr. Salmon's having found eggs by 

 the 30th of March. I would observe that only old birds are to be 

 found here in May, apparently, as I take it, on the way to their 

 breeding-grounds ; and we do not see the young until the end of July 

 or beginning of August. The earliest arrival that I have noted down 

 for this species is May 3rd, and the latest stay on their return in 

 autumn August 28th. 



