8o 



NOTE — ORNITHOLOGY. 



Salthouse, and on the 20th a small Diver, probably the Black-throated 

 (C arcticus), from the pure shining white of its neck and breast, 

 was feeding near the sewer mouth at Cromer. On the 28th three 

 Red-throated Divers (C septe?itrionalis) were in the same place, one 

 of them retaining a good deal of warm brown colouring on the throat ; 

 another was observed there on the 2 9th5 on which day two Scoters 

 {CEdemia 7iigrd) passed, flying north-west. On the 21st a small brown 

 Skua, probably Richardson's {Stercorarius crepidatus), passed near the 

 end of the pier. The neighbourhood of Yarmouth seemed deserted 

 by birds ; along the Denes I saw a few Snow Buntings {F/ectrophanes 

 nivalis) — looking dark against the frozen snow, Meadow Pipits {Anthus 

 pratensis), and four Shorelarks ( 6^/^^^??7^ alpestris); but two visits to 

 Breydon resulted in our seeing only a few Gulls and a little party of 

 Twites {Linota flavii'ostris) on one of the ' ronds ' on the north side. I 

 beHeve a few bunches of fowl came down on the morning of the 4th, but 

 the only birds shot on the water during the week we were there 

 (November 30th to December 8th) were a Wigeon {Mareca penelope) 

 and a Coot ( Fiilica atrd). Neither could I find any Ducks or Waders in 

 the market. Hickling Broad, too, had Httle to show, for we saw only 

 two Teal (yQiierquedtda c7-ecca)^ a Heron {Ardea cinerea), a lot of 

 Great Black-backed {Larus marimis) and some Black-headed Gulls 

 (Z. ridibundus), a small unidentified wader looking a good deal like a 

 Phalarope, and a few other birds, the Reed Bunting {Eniberiza 

 schceniclus) being a very frequent and characteristic small bird. We 

 beat the ' ronds ' along both sides of the Bure one afternoon without 

 seeing a single Snipe {Gailinago ccelestis), though better ground could 

 not be imagined. I fancy that more could have been done at Cley 

 during the severe weather, for on the morning of the last day we were 

 there (November 27th) thirty-one Ducks in one bunch, seventeen in 

 another, and five Wigeon {Mareca peiielope) flew in from the sea. 



I omitted to mention that in Potter Heigham Sound a bird, which 

 we believe to have been a Bearded Tit {Panuriis hiarmiciis\ flitted 

 across from one reed bed to another, just in front of our boat. From 

 its long tail and general appearance it could have been nothing else, 

 but we did not get another sight of it, as it disappeared at once 

 among the tall reeds ; the fowler we had with us said at once he 

 thought it was a ' Reed Pheasant' 



NOTE—ORNITHOLOGY. 



Land-rail at Barton-on-Humber.— To-day (December 8) I saw a 

 Land-rail {Crex pTatensis) in a game-shop in this town, and on inquiry was told 

 that it had been shot at Barton, in Lincolnshire, across the river, on Monday, 

 December 6. The bird was in very poor conditon. — E. W. Wade, Hull, 



December 8, 1886. 



Naturalist, 



