266 
THE ESSEX NATURALIST. 
haunted this stretch of the river in 1906. I saw the bird 
(presumably the same bird) twice in December of that j^ear. 
On the last occasion it passed within forty yards. I believe 
Phalacrocorax frequently comes up the river during the winter. 
I observed it at Tilbury on the 2nd and 13th December, 1920. 
The Barn Owl ( Strix flammed) roosts (and possibly breeds) 
in Thurrock church. I have seen it beating along over the rough 
herbage near the sea-wall at dusk. 
The most interesting member of this family noted was the 
Short-eared Owl (Asio accipitrinus) on October 24, 1920. The 
writer, with four companions, put up a strange bird from the 
marsh at the back of the sea-wall. None of the party were 
certain of the bird until it turned and shewed the characteristic 
blunt head of an Owl. It was stalked and flushed three times, 
and on one occasion, by dint of careful manoeuvring, it was driven 
low over the heads of three observers, who had no difficulty in 
noting the yellow eyes, and other prominent features. 
The bird took refuge on the salting near the lighthouse, but 
was not allowed to remain in peace very long before it was espied 
and mobbed by a party of rooks. When last seen it was mount¬ 
ing high over the river pursued by one of its sable persecutors. 
As a bird-oasis West Thurrock marsh will soon be a thing of 
the past. In 1919 I heard rumours of a prospective factory to 
be erected there, and later sundry small but significant pegs 
were noticed in the ground near where the owl was flushed. Is. 
this little corner of Essex marshland also going ? 
Additions to the Club’s Museum.. —Several valuable sets 
of British Lichens have recently been added to the Essex Museum 
at Stratford. These include 80 “ Lichenes rarissimi ” collected 
by Charles Larbalestier, chiefly in Ireland ; “ 150 British Lichens 
collected by the Rev. W. A. Leighton ” ; and nine Fasciculi of 
British Lichens (in all, 360 specimens) issued by Larbalestier 
under the title of Larbalestier’s Lichen-Herbarium. These 
have been acquired by purchase from the widow of the late 
Rev. W. Johnson, a well-known student and collector of these 
plants. In addition, Mrs. Johnson has kindly given 32 odd 
specimens of lichens to the Museum. —Percy Thompson. 
