242 



NOTES ORNITHOLOGY. 



valuable part of the day's work had to be deferred, but still we must 

 look to a better and brighter day, when Mr. Hudleston will once 

 again give Yorkshire geologists the benefit of his experience, and 

 thoroughly describe to them that wonderful feature in Yorkshire 

 geology, the Peak. This immediate district must, without fail, be 

 made the centre of another excursion. 



Mr. Stears, of Hull, and Mr. Phillips, of Scarborough, respectively 

 moved and seconded a vote of thanks to the President of the Union 

 for his valuable address, and for the great kindness he had shown in 

 coming so far to give them the benefit of his experience. This was 

 ■enthusiastically carried, after which the President moved, and the 

 Rev. E. Maule Cole, M.A., seconded, a vote of thanks to Messrs. 

 Adamson and Scott for the admirable way in which, during the 

 enforced and regretted absence of Mr. Roebuck, they had con- 

 ducted general matters, whereby the circular had not been delayed, 

 nor the interests of the Union caused to suffer. Mr. Adamson, in 

 replying, stated he would do his utmost for the Union in this 

 emergency, and would assist his valued and dear friend Mr. Roebuck 

 in every way possible. The members afterwards had tea together at 

 Bearup's Station Hotel. 



NOTES— ORNITHOLOG V. 



Notes from Flamborough. — Great arrivals of our summer visitants this 

 season on the Headland, Flamborough : Redstart {Rtiticilla pha-niciiriis) and 

 Wheatear {Saxicola cciianthe) first seen April 6th ; no more arrivals for several 

 days. April 24th, I saw four Swallows {Hirundo rtistica) ; April 25th, first 

 appearance of the Cuckoo {Cucidus canorus) ; April 26th and 27th, large numbers 

 of the Flycatchers were to be seen in nearly every field ; April 28th, great arrivals 

 of the Ring Ouzel ( Turdus torqtiatiis) : April 29th, I also observed the Swift 

 {Cypsehis apus). — Matthew Bailey, Flamborough, May 12th, 1888. 



Bittern near Ripon. — I saw a fine stuffed Bittern {Botaiirus steUaris) late in 

 January of 1887, and I was told that it had been shot during the first week of 

 January 1887, at Norton Conyers near Ripon. — H. S. Byers, Stockton-on-Tees. 



The Ornithology of Skiddaw, Sea Fell, and Helvellyn. — As a 

 student of the ornithology of the Lake district, I have waited for weeks for 

 the appearance of Mr. Watson's long-promised paper. I felt certain that his 

 * peculiarly favourable ' opportunities for observation ' during many successive 

 seasons ' would supply us with new and interesting facts. My expectations have 

 been realized. I had often wondered where the downy nestling of the common 

 Sandpiper, figured by Yarrell, was captured. It is mentioned in letters of June 

 28th, 1837, and January loth, 1838, from Mr. Yarrell to Mr. Heysham, but these 

 letters, now on my table, throw no light on the locality concerned. It is gratifying 

 to learn from Mr. Watson that it was ' from the neighbourhood of these mountains.' 

 I had always supposed, from observation and dissection, that the Peregrine fed 

 entirely on live prey. But we learn from Mr. Watson that this falcon is a carrion- 

 bird, for he tells us at p. 165 that the Peregrines ' benefit ' by mortality among the 

 sheep. This is a new light to me, and I am thankful for it. I had always found 

 that the Golden Plover abandoned its gregarious habits in the nesting season, but 

 as Mr. Watson has found a ' nesting colony,' my experience must have been unfor- 

 tunate. I have never seen the Shag inland, nor is it a common bird on the Cum- 

 berland coast. It is therefore due to Mr. Watson to say that he is the first to detect 

 its presence on Crummock Water. I trust that Mr. Watson's ready pen will give 

 us some more of his picturesque sketches of bird-life. — H. A. Macpherson. 



Naturalist, 



