79 



ORNITHOLOGICAL Ifl"OTES 

 PROM LINCOLNSHIRE AND NORFOLK. 



OLIVER V. APLIN, 



Bloschavi, 7iear Banhiuy, Oxon. 



In November last my brother and I spent two days at Freiston 

 Shore, Lincolnshire, and then three weeks in Norfolk. The following 

 are some notes on the birds we met with. At Freiston on the i6th 

 and 17th Dunlins {Truiga alpind) were numerous on the mud-flats, 

 and we saw several large ' clouds,' also one good-sized lot of Knots 

 (7! camLtus\ a few Ringed Plovers [ySgialitis hiaticuld) and Curlew 

 (JVumenius arquata), and a good many Redshanks {Totanus calidris) 

 in the creeks ; nine Herons {Ardea cinered) in company passed us 

 flying seawards on the 17th, and there were a few Snipe {Gallinago 

 ccelestis) on the Saltings ; we heard of no Golden Plover {Charadnus 

 pluvialis) on the arable land, but seven passed over, going south, on 

 the morning of the i6th, with several small flocks of Peewits ( Vanelhis 

 vulgaris). Grey Crows {Corvus comix), of course, predominated, 

 but I noticed a good many Black ones {C. corone). Of Ducks we 

 saw only five Mallard {Anas boscas) flying along a little way out. 

 Eleven Brent Geese {Bernida brenta) flew over our heads early in the 

 morning of the 17th when we were at the end of Boston New Cut, 

 on the bank of which a flock of fully five hundred Snow Buntings 

 (yPlectrophanes nivalis) were feeding, about one in ten being white 

 birds. A Merlin {Falco cesaloji) in brown plumage was beating along 

 the bank. There was a large flock of Twites {Linoia flavirostris) at 

 that end of the marsh, and great numbers of Linnets (Z. catmabina) 

 all over it; three Goldfinches {Carduelis elegans) passed overhead 

 coming from north-east on the i6th. Rock Pipits {Anthus obscurus) 

 were pretty common in the creeks. Meadow Pipits {A. pratensis) in 

 great numbers, and the marsh seemed full of Skylarks {Alauda 

 arvensis). Wild-fowl of all kinds seem to have been very scarce on 

 the east coast this autumn. 



We went afterwards to Cromer, Cley, and Yarmouth, and the 

 gunners at the last two places all agreed upon this. At Cley 

 we found a good many Shorelarks {Otocorys alpesiris), Rock 

 Pipits (Anthus obscurus), Twites {Lino fa Jiavirostris), and two 

 flocks of Snow Buntings {Plectrophanes nivalis), also a few Grey 

 Plovers {Squatarola helvetica), consorting chiefly with the Knots 

 {Tringa canutus), four Turnstones {Strepsilas interpres), and a Purple 

 Sandpiper {Tringa striata) on the 23rd, the fine open weather, 

 however, making everything very wild. On the 19th we saw an 

 immature Great Northern Diver {Colymbus glacialis) on the wing off 



March 1887. 



