OBSERVED IE" HERTFORDSHIRE IF 1884. 
209 
wester’ and have been driven up from Cornwall or the Channel 
Islands.” 
5. The Little Bittern- (Ardelta minuta ). —A little bittern was 
shot on the 17th October, by Mr. E. 1ST. Beningfield, of Broxbourne, 
near the Carthagena "Weir. It has been mounted by Mr. Gunn, of 
Norwich. The little bittern is one of the most beautiful of our 
waders. It is the smallest of its class, “its body * being scarcely 
larger than that of the fieldfare.” It is residentf in the Azores, 
Madeira, Algeria, and to a limited extent in Egypt. It is a night 
feeder and at present Is only a rare and accidental summer visitor 
to the shores of England. “ Probably,” writes Mr. Seebohm, “the 
country has become too civilized, and high farming has driven it 
away, or possibly the district is not civilized enough, and it has 
succumbed to the poacher. The paradise of the ornithologist, as 
well as of the little bittern, can only be found in this country where 
bad farming is combined with strict game-preserving.” 
6. The Black Terh ( ' Hydrochelidon nigra ).— Mr. E. P. Thomp¬ 
son, of Elstree, Informs me that a black tern was taken on the 
Elstree Reservoir, about two years ago, as it sat upon one of the 
buoys to which boats are attached. “Not a century ago the black 
tern bred in the Lincolnshire fens, on the Norfolk broads, and in the 
Kent marshes; now it only passes our shores in spring and autumn 
on migration, and its occurrence as far inland as Hertfordshire can 
only be regarded as accidental.” 
7. The Kittiwake [Rnsa tridactyla ).■— Mr. Henry Lewis, of 
St. Albans, informs me that a kittiwake gull was picked up dead, 
at Colney, near St. Albans, in February last. It was taken to Mr. 
Luff, who states that he could not find any appearance of injury on 
any part of it, and that it had died apparently from exhaustion or 
starvation. The kittiwake is one of the commonest of our English 
gulls. It is a sea-bird, and is but seldom met with in the inland 
counties. It breeds in immense numbers on particular portions 
of the coast, and although not absolutely a migrant, is much more 
abundant in summer than in winter. In appearance it very much 
resembles the common gull, but is somewhat smaller, and may 
always be distinguished from it by the absence of a hind toe. 
8. The Great Northern- Diver (Colymbus glacialis ). — A great 
northern diver, in immature plumage, was shot on Elstree Reservoir 
by Mr. Bright’s keeper, in the month of October last, and has been 
cleverly mounted by Mr. Bowers, of Watford. I am informed by 
Mr. E. P. Thompson, of Elstree, that a bird of the same species was 
shot on Boxing-day, 1876, by Mr. Willshin. The great northern 
diver is the largest of its genus, and has frequently been found to 
weigh as much as 10 lbs. It is essentially a sea-fowl, It but rarely 
leaves the water, and walks, when on land, with the greatest 
difficulty. “ It visits our shores only in winter. In very stormy 
weather examples sometimes occur inland, but these are principally 
* Montagu’s ‘ Ornithological Dictionary,’ 1883, p. 48. 
t Seebohm’s £ British Birds/ vol. ii, p. 510, 
