268 



CORDEAUX : EAST COAST ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



without seeing any, and could only heai of a pair having been seen 

 in that locality. I have httle doubt, however, that the species is yet 

 fairly numerous on the old Dotterel grounds in May. The great extent 

 of the land to be traversed, and the difficulty in distinguishing the birds 

 even at a short distance, on fallow land or newly-sovv^n corn, makes 

 it exceedingly hard for a single observer to draw conclusions as to 

 their abundance or scarcity, yet no year passes that I am not told by 

 shepherds and others of Dotterel having been seen somewhere or 

 other in the district. Since the passing of the Wild Birds Protection 

 Acts their presence, fortunately, does not attract the same attention as 

 formerly. 



At the Speeton, Bempton, and Flamborough Cliffs, on this same 

 day, I found three sets of climbers in full swing (no pun was intended), 

 taking the sea-birds' eggs. Up to this date comparatively few had 

 been taken, and the season was reported to be a late one, the con- 

 tinuous north-east winds keeping the fowl out at sea, and retarding 

 the laying. The largest number of eggs I saw brought up after any 

 single descent was thirty-six. I walked the length of the headland 

 between Hunmanby and the North Landing at Flamborough, and 

 found the rocks were fairly covered with Guillemot {Loinvia iroile), 

 Razor-bills {Alca torda)^ and a few Puffins {Fratercula ardica) ; 

 nothing, however, compared with the enormous numbers resting on 

 the water at a short distance from the cliff foot, and this continuous 

 for several miles — in fact, along the whole range of the breeding cliffs. 

 Comparatively few Kittiwakes {Rissa tridactyla) were seen. Some 

 Rockdoves {Columba livia) and Stockdoves (C cenas). A nest of the 

 Cacrion Crow {Corvus corofie) with unfledged young on the Bempton 

 Chfifs. All the climbers say there are certainly no Herring Gulls 

 {Larus argentatiis) or Cormorants {Phalacrocorax carbd) nesting any- 

 where on the south of Filey Bay. Flamborough fishermen again 

 report a white Guillemot, and another, likewise of the common 

 species, which is entirely black all over. This latter has been 

 frequently seen. 



There are four sets of cHmbers working the cliffs between Bempton 

 and Flamborough. In the season of 1884 one party admit having 

 taken, in seven weeks and three days, 30,000 eggs of various sorts. 

 The fishermen also, in their leisure hours, take a considerable number 

 of eggs by cUmbing from below. It would, therefore, probably be no 

 exaggeration to say that altogether 130,000 eggs are taken in the 

 season, chiefly those of the Guillemot. It is difficult ,to understand 

 how any species can withstand such a wholesale drain on their 

 nurseries without shewing a perceptible yearly and increasing diminu- 

 tion, more especially when we take into consideration th e large 



Naturalist, 



