NOTES ORNITHOLOGY. 



83 



small birds crossed in considerable numbers. I shot another Velvet 

 Scoter from the pier, out of a bunch of five, but it dived and did not 

 re-appear. In the afternoon a young male Scaup {Fultgula ^narilci) 

 was shot near the pier by my friend, Mr. W. Pyman of Whitby. On 

 the 20th great numbers of Hooded Crows {Corvus comix) and Larks 

 {Aiauda arvensis) arrived. On the 21st Mr. Pyman and I were out in 

 a boat at West Scar, where we secured a young male Long-tailed Duck 

 {Harelda glacialis) and wounded another which escaped by diving 

 and getting amongst the heavy seas outside. On the same day two 

 female Long-tails were shot at East Scar ; Hooded Crows and Ducks 

 passed during the morning. On the 22nd there was a great rush of 

 Larks all day, with a few Hooded Crows. On the 23rd I saw a Great 

 Northern Diver ( Colymbiis glacialis) outside Salt Scar, but could not 

 approach within a hundred yards of it. In the early part of 

 November another Peregrine Falcon was shot, and about the same 

 time Mr. A. E. Pease, M.P., killed a female Goosander {Mergus 

 merganser) in a small runner near Guisborough. About the middle 

 of the month Mr. R. Fox Chilton shot a very large female Great 

 Northern Diver ( Colymbiis glacialis) at the Tees mouth ; he in- 

 formed me that it weighed close upon 12 lbs., which I can quite 

 believe, judging from the great size of the bird ; Mussell says it had 

 an inch of fat under the skin. A female Merlin {Falco cesaloti) was 

 shot at Redcar early in December. There has evidently been a 

 flight of Shore Larks {Otocorys alpestris) on the coast; twelve or 

 fifteen were killed during the first week in December; on the loth 

 two were shot on Coatham sands, and on the nth Mr. Emerson shot 

 three at the same place. I examined ten or a dozen examples and 

 found them to be all young birds. 



NOTES— ORNITHOLOG K 



Great Grey Shrike in Nidderdale. — As I was traversing the road 

 in the vicinity of New York, on Saturday, January 14, a Great Grey Shrike 

 {Lanius exciibitor) was observed to pass across about twenty yards in advance, on 

 its way from one wooded portion of land to another. — W. C. Clarkson, Pateley 

 Bridge, January 14, 1887. 



Hawfinch and Pink-footed Geese at Harrogate.— On Jan. 24th 

 Mr. A. Rowling brought me a tine male specimen of the Hawfinch {Coccothraiistes 

 vulgaris) which he had shot that day in the grounds of old High Harrogate 

 College. A pair of these birds had been noticed frequenting these grounds for 

 three weeks previous. This is the first authentic instance of their occurrence in 

 the town. I think the late John Grange shot one in the Spa Grounds a few years 

 ago, but there is, as far as I know, no record of the fact. On January 4th, 1887, 

 I saw a specimen near the Irrigation Farm. We may now class these birds among 

 our residents in this district, as they have nested for the past two seasons in the 

 grounds of Ripley Castle. 



On January loth I saw three Pink-footed Geese {Anser brachyrhynchiis) on the 

 Irrigation Farm. — Riley Fortune, Alston House, Harrogate, Jan. 26th, 1887. 

 March 1887. 



