In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury. 



247 



seen or heard of elsewhere ; as well as most unfortunate my not 

 being able to clear up the matter further. But these are the facts, 

 and they must go for what they are worth. 



Lobipedid^i. 



Fulica Atra. " Coot." Common in our meadows at times, es- 

 pecially in the winter and spring. It breeds freely amongst us; 

 and I have found the eggs of the Moorhen in the same nest as that 

 of the Coot, in some of our withy-beds. This bird has a peculiar 

 habit of sinking itself in the water when suddenly surprised, lowering 

 its head and neck close to the surface, and slinking into cover as 

 soon as may be. The young birds, when recently hatched, are far 

 prettier than at first sight you might fancy they would be, their 

 little heads being marked with bright blue and red down, which 

 doubtless soon disappears. They are heavy birds on the wing, and 

 afford an easy mark to the young sportsman. They migrate in vast 

 numbers in the autumn ; and I observed a great number in the sea 

 off Sturt Island, as already mentioned, in the May month. I was 

 out shooting in our meadows one day with some young brothers- 

 in-law, when I saw a most peculiar circumstance, hard to ac- 

 count for. A party of Coots rose from the Broad in our river, 

 and making a wide detour over land, endeavoured to reach a bend of 

 the river, some half-mile above us. But just as they got opposite 

 us, though out of gun shot, one of the birds turned head over heels 

 in the air, and fell dead to the ground, without a shot having been 

 fired at it. Whether its nervous system was so acted on by the 

 very proximity of a gun, as suddenly to stop all the forces of Nature, 

 I really can in no way determine. The flesh of these birds, unlike 

 the Moor Hen, is tough and dry, and not worth eating. 



Phalaropus Lobatus. " Phalarope. - " This is another of those 

 birds which assume, in a very striking manner, the red brick-dust 

 colour in its summer plumage, whereas in its winter garb it is 

 whitish grey ; from which latter state of plumage it is often called 

 amongst us the " Grey Phalarope. 31 They are usually but occasional 

 visitants ; but in the year 1859 they visited this country in great 

 quantities, and were killed by hundreds. Two of these birds were 



