Yorkshire Naturalists at Spurn. 



^35 



afforded, that many had been taken. This is g'reatly to be 

 regretted. It seems almost impossible to adequately protect 

 rare breeding- species in Yorkshire from the greed of the eg-g- 

 collector. 



Shelducks had nested among- the sandhills ; none were, how- 

 ever, seen during- our visit. 



Several Thrushes' 'altars' were seen, some of them sur- 

 rounded by heaps of broken snail shells, chiefly Helix aspersa 

 and H. arhustorum. I do not remember having previously seen 

 any places so much used for this purpose. One of these, taken 

 by Mr. Godfrey Bingley, is here reproduced. 



Altogether 45 species of birds were seen, none of which, 

 except the two mentioned above, call for special mention. Two 

 mammals, several Common Lizards, and one amphibian com- 

 plete the total of vertebrates noted. 



A month later would have been a better time for a visit, 

 from the ornithologist's point of view, as we missed the hosts 

 of waders and other migrants which frequent this locality a 

 little later in the season.* 



The conchologists, under the Rev. E. P. Blackburn and 

 Mr. W. Denison Roebuck, proceeded as far as Kilnsea by 

 trap and thoroughly enjoyed the drive. Mr. Blackburn 

 writes : — Proceeding down the road to the warren, we carefully 

 souirht under stones and wood and in bank for siofns of slug's or 

 snails. Our search was rewarded by finding ants, who are foes 

 to moUusca, esteeming them, like the gourmands of France, 

 a great delicacy. One good find one of the ladies made was 

 a Helix hortensis, a new record for this part. On entering the 

 warren some Helicella caperata cheered our drooping spirits. 

 We had not been there very long before a thunder shower burst 

 upon us, and we had to take refuge in a house near by. The 

 storm cleared presently and we made for the shore, where, in 

 the mud pools, we found Paliidestrina stagnalis in abundance 

 and Littorina riidis and littorea alive and flourishing. Thrown 

 up on the beach were dead specimens of Cardiiun edule, Mytilus 

 edule, Macoma halthica (in two varieties), Buccinum tindatiim, 

 Purpura lapilliis, Ostrea ediilis, and Lutraria elliptica. Many of 

 these Mr. Petch has taken alive previously, as per circular list, 

 on the sea shore. A single valve of Volsella modiolus was taken. 

 Leaving the shore after a short time we came back to the 

 warren and the bent grass which, previous to the storm, proved 



* Mr. Fortune has kindly supplied the two illustrations of nests of the 

 Tern and Ringed Plover reproduced herewith (Plate X.). 

 1904 Aug-ust I. 



