RARER MARINE GRALLJi. 
323 
Grallse of the cultivated parts, seventeen are also at 
times visitors of the coast. And lastly, of the thirty- 
two shore birds about to be named more particularly, 
only one-half have exclusively been seen on the 
coasts and at the mouths of rivers. 
Devonshire boasts of nearly all the English 
marine Grallae, the deficiencies in our list being 
either stragglers, or such as have only a northern 
range. Among the rarer Grallse of our shores, the 
following deserve enumeration, the Great White 
Heron,Purple Pier on, Little WliiteHeron, Freckled 
Heron, Night Heron, White Stork, Black Stork, 
Little Bittern, Spoonbill, Phis, Brown Snipe, Pigmy 
Curlew, Temminck?s Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, 
Little Stint, Sanderling, Phalarope, Greenshank, 
Stilt, Avocet, Spotted Redshank, and Pectoral 
Sandpiper ; * and if the records of the occurrence 
of these birds in England be consulted, it will be 
seen that not only are they of extreme rarity, but 
that some of them have occurred more frequently 
in Devon than elsewhere. Some of our other 
Grallae also are tolerably common, while in other 
parts they are scarce. What then are the reasons 
of our possessing so very many rarities, and of 
having so many individuals of the less rare birds 
of this division of the Grallae ? Is it because our 
climate is so genial and uniform; because our shores 
and harbours are so suitable for their sustenance 
and retreat; on account of our southern station ; 
or from all these causes combined? The Oyster 
* While superintending the press at this portion of the Work 
I learn that specimens of this bird were shot on the Tamar, and 
preserved by Pincombe of Devonport. For a description of this 
and nearly all other rarities, see Eyton’s “ Rarer British Birds," 
a book containing also the most perfect catalogue of the feathered 
tribes of our Island. 
P p 2 
