542 
Obituary. 
[Ibis, 
the affair, and satisfied himself that the record was reliable, 
but neither he nor Mr. Upcher saw the eggs, which were 
subsequently broken. 
From a sportsman^ point of view, Upcher knew every¬ 
thing about game-birds that there was to be known, his 
special favourite being the Woodcock, of which he had 
possibly brought dowm as many to his own gun as any man 
in England. His home on the coast yras, in fact, a point of 
arrival for Woodcocks, Fieldfares, Redwings, and thousands 
of other migratory birds which cross the North Sea in 
October and November. This annual passage takes place 
by night, when the bulk of the migrants pass, those seen by 
day being for the most part laggards delayed by contrary 
winds. An exception must, however, be made for the 
Corvidae, which appear to travel at any time, nearly as 
many passing by day as by night. 
The Sherringham game-books have records of the number 
of Woodcocks for many years, and the following list, 
extracted from 
them, 
which was copied for the present 
writer by Mr. 
Upcher himself, may here be given as a 
specimen of the sport 
afford 
which well-preserved coverts can 
In 1858, 
102 were shot (36 on one day). 
„ 1859, 
68 
55 
„ 1866, 
72 
5J 
„ 1868, 
101 
55 
„■ 1869, 
87 
„ (35 in one day). 
„ 1880, 
111 
55 
„ 1883, 
112 
55 
„ 1884, 
108 
55 
„ 1885, 
119 
33 
These figures are interesting when compared with returns 
made from other parts of Norfolk and Suffolk. 
More than once pied varieties came under Mr. Upcher's 
notice., and in 1868 a melanism was shot near Sherringham, 
which is now in the Natural History Museum. 
Mr. Upcher's name is commemorated in Hypolais upcheri , 
