8o 



FLIGHT OF BIRDS ON THE SOLWAV. 



of Mr. W. Lea, of Newbeggin. The former was killed in one of the 

 large pools below Winch Bridge ; and the latter, picked up defunct 

 on Cronkley Scar (Yorkshire), was erroneously recorded in my 

 previous paper as the Red-backed species. 



In August 1886 a pair of Whimbrel passed close to us at Green 

 Hurth Mine, a thick scotch mist prevailing at the time. They were 

 evidently migrating, for nothing more was either seen or heard of 

 them. 



The Red-backed Shrike has again been seen by ?\Ir. Wearmouth, 

 (1887) haunting the old spot by the river-side, but he has searched 

 in vain for its nest. 



The Spotted Flycatcher has been wonderfully plentiful this last 

 summer in the Tees Valley. Some dozen or so of nests came under 

 my own notice, and others were reported to me. 



Mr. C. Dowson, one of the oldest ' watchers ' in the valle_7, informs 

 me that the Dotterel used to arrive on Cross Fell in <fine seasons at 

 the end of April or the beginning of May. Dunlins, Common 

 Sandpipers, and Curlews all appear, he says, in April usually. 



In a letter from Mr. J. Cordeaux, dated from Barnard Castle, 

 September 17th, 1887, after having spent some days at High Force, 

 he writes : — ' I am tolerably certain I heard the note of the Crossbill 

 on the first morning I was there, but I never subsequently heard it 

 or caught sight of the bird, although I frequently examined from our 

 window and the road the tree tops with a glass. Crossbills were 

 crossing Heligoland in some numbers in July' (see The Naturalist, 

 1885, p. 358). 



In a subsequent letter Mr. Cordeaux also mentions having noticed 

 a small party of Siskins on a mountain ash near the Force. 



NO TE^ ORNITHOL OGY. 



Remarkable Flight of Birds on the Solway. — The following extract 

 from niy notes may be of service : — " Sunday, December 12th, 1886. Weather 

 extremely cold, the thermometer lower than at any previous date during 

 the year. Brisk gale from X.N.E.; atmosphere hazy with intermittent snow 

 showers. At daybreak noticed a very remarkable flight of birds on the English 

 shore of the Solway Firth at Flimby. The bulk of the flight, probably nine- 

 tenths of the whole, consisted of Skylarks, the rest being made up of occasional 

 troops of Starlings, Redwings, and Plovers, both green and golden. The birds, 

 except the Ciolden Plovers, were flying quite low, barely clearing the roofs of the 

 dwelling-houses. Their tails were turned towards the storm, and their line of 

 flight was almost j^arallel with the beach. The flight was, observed flrst - about 

 8.30 a.m., and continued, with very slight intermission, until the commencement 

 of divine service at 10.30. How much longer it lasted I cannot say definitely, 

 but at midday only stragglers appeared. Taking the duration of the flight as 

 extending over two and a half hours, and assuming that 100 birds crossed the 

 observer's line of vision in every minute — a moderate estimate I am persuaded — 

 we arrive at an aggregate of 15,000 birds passing during the morning." — • 

 W. Honc.sox, A.L.S., Plimby, Maryport, Nov. 17th, 1887. ' 



Naturalist, 



