612 MR. A. H. PATTERSON’S NATURAL HISTORY 
On August 28th, a day or two before the shooting season 
opened, I took a quiet sail and re-explored some of the haunts 
of my younger days. I put ashore several times to peer into 
favourite corners, and was astonished in two or three instances 
with what I saw. Observing a Gull roosting upon a tall stake, 
I quietly pushed under cover of the “ wall ” and peered over. 
There were at least 200 Gulls of mixed species, nearly all of 
them sitting on the marsh among the bullocks that took little 
notice of them, unless it was to avoid treading on them as 
they grazed. The bird on the stake was supposed to be doing 
“ sentry go,” but he was a very unsuspicious sentinel. On 
a marsh nearer home, on crawling up the bank to look over, 
I saw a horse cooling his forefeet in a small pool of water, 
and evidently indulging in a day dream ; around him were 
no less than 8 Redshanks, 1 Greenshank, 1 Green Sand-piper, 
3 Lapwings, 3 Black-headed Gulls, and 3 Ringed Plovers, 
the farthest from the animal being not six feet away from it, 
and none of them more than a few yards lrorn me. 
Sandwich Tern ( Sterna cantiaca ). I saw one, and three 
others were reported to me. the last week in August. 
The Knot ( Tringa canutus ) is the slowest wader at feeding 
time I think I have seen ; two, on August 30th, remained 
busily feeding on a mud flat, probed the mud around them 
three or four times before making a fresh step ; and while 
a Ringed Plover, the petulant and impulsive fellow ! will be 
scouring a square acre, a Knot will be leisurely probing 
six square yards. 
On the last day of August, as in the previous year. Breydon 
was alive with birds. Early next morning guns were blazing 
away in every direction ; before breakfast I noticed one fellow 
near the “ lumps ” with quite 20 dead (and useless) Terns 
lying on the floor of his punt. And every lout who carried 
a shoulder gun with him obtained his quantum. The tempta- 
tion to kill these pretty creatures seemed irresistible, although 
they did not know what to do with the birds when shot. The 
majority were young birds. 
On September 12th a Little Gull ( Lams minutus) was 
observed at the Harbour mouth. 
