UC-NRLF B 3 "ITS THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID A FLAMBOROUGH TROPHY. FULMAR PETREL, POMATORHINE SKUA, and HARELD. October 1868. BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. BY JOHN COEDEAUX. Sevp' Ire Trevvofievoi rd vewrepcr. yap evOade (j>v\' aOpotZopev oi- TWV Tctvaodeipatv. ARISTOPII. Aves, 252 sqq. LONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLXXII. " "We hear the beat Of their pinions fleet, . As from the land of snow and sleet They seek a southern lea ; " " We hear the cry Of their voices high, Falling dreamily through the sky ; But their forms we cannot see." INTRODUCTION. IT was with considerable hesitation that I com- menced this notice of the avifauna of the Hum- ber District, from the fact that any attempt on my part to supply a complete list of our birds (resident, migratory, and occasional visitants) must to some extent be a failure, not only from lack of time and opportunity to become thoroughly ac- quainted with the district, but also from having had in a great measure to work alone and un- aided by local ornithologists, of whom, I regret, North Lincolnshire, compared with the neigh- bouring counties of Yorkshire and Norfolk, is singularly deficient. This deficiency of fellow workers, however, has to some extent been counterbalanced by an occupation requiring almost constant daily outdoor supervision in all seasons and in all weathers, thus affording most M366836 IV INTRODUCTION. favourable facilities for noting the times of arrival and departure of our migratory birds, The sources whence my materials have been drawn are thus principally my own notes and observations, extending over a period of ten years. I am also greatly indebted to those notices of rare and accidental visitants, captured principally in East Yorkshire, and recorded during the same period in the pages of the 'Zoologist/ in which journal also many of my own notes and remarks on our birds in this work have already appeared, and, lastly, to a paper on the ornitho- logy of Lincolnshire by the Rev. R. P. Alingtori, of Swinhope Rectory, which appeared in the 'Naturalist' for January 1852. To W. W. Boulton, Esq., M.R.C.S., of Beverley, Mr. Thomas Boynton, of Ulrorne Grange near Bridlington, the Rev. R. P. Alington, of Swin- hope Rectory, and Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., I must express my best acknowledgments for valu- able information rendered and many inquiries answered since the commencement of this notice, respecting the ornithology of the district; my thanks are, indeed, especially due to Mr. Gurney for many original and interesting communications bearing on the ornithology of Lincolnshire ; and I INTRODUCTION. have also to express my obligations to Mr. J. Edmund Harting for much kindness shown in connexion with this work. To Messrs. Bailey, of Flamborough, Richardson, of Beverley, Adrian, of Lincoln, and Clayton, of Louth, I am indebted for communications from time to time of rare captures in their respective neighbourhoods. My frontispiece is from a photograph, ad- mirably rendered in wood by Mr. J. G. Keule- mans, and engraved by Mr. Pearson, of three birds shot at Flamborough in the autumn of 1868, and photographed shortly after in the flesh. They are now in the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun. In the Humber District I include the Humber from the Spurn to its junction with the Trent and Ouse, and the lands adjoining, namely part of North and Mid Lincolnshire and Holderness, a district enclosed to the north, the west, and south by the curved sweep of the wold hills. To the east its sea-board extends from Flam- borough Head in the north to Skegness on the Lincolnshire coast in the south. This is a well defined and clearly marked province, both geologically and zoologically. It may be com- VI INTRODUCTION. pared to a half circle or bent bow, the Lin- colnshire and Yorkshire wolds forming the bow, the coast-line the string ; whilst the great river itself is like an arrow placed in the string and across the bow, dividing the district into two nearly equal divisions*. The migratory birds visiting this district in the autumn and winter, almost without an exception, come from the direction of the sea, arriving on the coast in lines of flight varying from full N. to E. The only exception to this rule is that of the Grey or Winter Wagtail (Motacilla boarula), which reaches us from the W. or N.W. In the spring also, I am strongly inclined to think, the greater portion of our little summer visitors, in- cluding the delicate Warblers and Willow-wrens, arrive from the sea, coming from S.E. to E., ap- pearing first in the warmer and low- lying country between the coast and the foot of the wold range, and gradually extending inland across the high wolds, a cold backward district, to the interior of the county. A series of carefully kept registers or calendars of the times of arrival of our spring migratories, as lately recommended and set forth * See ' Geological Map of England and Wales/ Prof. Kamsay. INTRODUCTION. Vll in the "Field" newspaper, would, I have little doubt, prove this to be generally the case. An exception to this rule is the Cuckoo, also the Common Dotterel (Charadrius morinellus), which latter invariably appears first on the wolds during the third or fourth week in April, and a week or ten days later in the coast marshes. Our shore birds and waders, as a rule, follow the coast-line both in their vernal aud autumnal migrations. The sea-birds follow the same course, but travel much further out to sea, their presence inland being quite exceptional and probably only induced by severe and long-continued storms. I may here remark that an experience of many years leads to the conclusion that the Lincolnshire side of the Humber is about the worst district on our north-eastern seaboard, between Berwick and Lowestoft, for rare captures. For if we refer to the map, we see that the Lincolnshire coast of the Humber is completely overlapped by that of Tlolderness, the Spurn itself projecting several miles beyond the actual Yorkshire coast. In the later summer and autumn, any wanderers from the north following the coast-line are pulled up by Flamborough Head, where much the largest proportion of our rarest captures are made. Vlll INTRODUCTION. The birds that run the gauntlet at Flamborough are next heard of at or near Spurn Point, and after this, leaving Lincolnshire to the right near Donna Nook, will cross the " deeps " and strike the N. and N.E. coast of Norfolk. In the same manner any wanderers following the Norwegian coast-line and thence striking across the North Sea, will naturally make for the nearest and most prominent land, and thus first touch our eastern shores at Flamborough Head, the Spurn, Donna Nook, and the Norfolk coast all which localities are more or less famous for the capture of our rarest continental autumnal visitors. For centuries our county was par excellence the home and retreat of almost every species of wader and duck ; and although angrily desig- nated by Henry VIII. as " ye moste brute and beastlie of the whole realm," it must have been a very paradise for the sportsman and naturalist. Probably the ill-tempered monarch had not the most pleasing recollections of his visit to Grimsby ; for it was during this tour that he first became aware of the profligate conduct of his queen, Catherine Howard. The drainage of the fens, enclosure of com- INTRODUCTION. IX mons and improved agriculture, as well as in- crease of population and fire-arms, have all had their share in driving away the wild fowl ; and Lincolnshire, now probably the best-farmed county in the kingdom, can boast but little of its former ornithological preeminence. In that curious old poem, Dray ton's 'Poly- olbion ' (song 25), which Sir Thomas Browne quaintly terms " a prettie booke, writ in smooth verse," we find a glowing description of the " fennes " and their goodly flocks of various " fowles " : Teal ; the Goosander, " His head as ebon blacke, the rest as white as snowe ;" Golden-eyes, Coots and " Sneath " [Smew?] ; " The Water-woozel next, all over black as jet ;" The " diving dobchick ;" puffin, " Which, coming to the dish, Nice palates hardly judge if it be flesh or fish ;" The "stately Crane," "like" [Wild Swan], "palate-pleasing Snite" [Snipe], "Bid-cocks" [Water-hens]; the "buzzing Bitter" [Bittern], " Which through his hollow beak A sudden bellowing sends, which many times doth fill The neighbouring marsh with noise, as though a bull did roar ;" X INTRODUCTION. "Barnacles," "Sea-pyes" [Oyster-catchers]; " The Osprey oft here seen, though seldom here he breeds ;" Cormorants, &c. Mr. Gough, the eminent antiquarian, in his edition of Camden's ' Britannia/ published towards the close of the eighteenth century, writes * : "The birds which inhabit the different fens are very numerous. Besides the common Wild Duck, Wild Geese and Garganies, Pochards, Shovellers, and Teal breed here. Pewit Gulls and Black Tern abound ; and a few of the Great Terns, or Tickets, are seen among them; the Great Crested Grebe, called Gaunts, are found in the east fen ; the Lesser Crested, the Black and Dusky and the Little Grebe, Coots, Water- hens, Spotted Water-hens, Water-rails, Ruffs, Redshanks, Lapwings or Wipes, Red-breasted Godwits, and Whimbrels are inhabitants of these fens. The Godwits breed near Washenbrough, the Whimbrels only appear for about a fort- night in May, near Spalding, and then quit the country. Opposite Fossdyke Wash, during summer, are vast numbers of " Avosettas," * Vol. ii. p. 381. [Gough's edition.] INTRODUCTION. XI called there Yelpers, from their cry as they hover over the sportsman's head like Lapwings. Knots are taken in nets along the shores near Eossdyke in great numbers during winter, but disappear in spring. The Short-eared Owl visits the neighbourhood of Washenbrough with the Woodcocks, and probably performs its migra- tions with these birds, quitting the country at the same time. It does not perch on trees, but conceals itself in long grass." Considering the ornithological knowledge of that day, this is a marvellously truthful descrip- tion of the various birds then inhabiting our fens, and reads like a recent contribution to the natural history of the nineteenth century. When Colonel Montagu, at the beginning of the present century, made his celebrated orni- thological tour through Lincolnshire, immense changes had taken place in the physical features of the county by the drainage and partial culti- vation of the fen lands. South Lincolnshire was then shorn of much of its ancient wildness; some species of birds had disappeared, and others were rapidly verging on extinction. The following list does not profess to give a life history of each resident and migratory species Xll INTRODUCTION. found in the Humber district ; that has already been done by the many eminent naturalists who have written on our English birds : but it is more particularly intended as a reference to the spring and autumn movements of the various migratories arriving and departing from our coasts ; and as such I can only trust it may be found interesting to my brother ornithologists. JOHN CORDEAUX. GREAT COTES, Christmas, 1872. ERRATA ET CORRIGENDA. Page Line 5, 7, for male read female. 16, 16, for (Strix acadica}. read (Strix acadica}. 23, 17, for for read and. 31, 14, for of fish- read of a fish-. 57, 12, /or ti re<2 it. 73, 1, /or FISSSIROSTRES read FISSIROSTRES. last line, for Barnoldley read Barnoldby. 81, 8, for Hummanby read Hunmanby. 91, 4, for restlessnes read restlessness, 129, 1 3 & 14, omit themselves with. THE BIKDS OF THE HTJMBER DISTRICT. RAPTOEES. FALCONIDJE. 1. AQUILA CHRYSAETOS (Linnaeus). Golden Eagle. A beautiful young female Golden Eagle, in the first year's plumage, was shot in December 1861, at S kerne, near Driffield, in the East Biding of York- shire, when in the act of eating a hare, by a man called Kemp, gamekeeper to A. Bannister, Esq. It was skinned and set up by Mr. Roberts, of Scar- borough, who says (Zoologist, 1862, p. 7880) it weighed 8 Ibs. 5 oz. This bird is now in the fine collection of the Norwich Museum, to which it was presented by Francis Hoare, Esq., of Tranby Park, near Hull. 2. HALI^ETUS ALBICILLA (Linnaeus). White-tailed Sea-Eagle. Specimens of this Eagle are occasionally met with in this district ; one, an apparently immature bird, B 2 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. came under my own observation in the autumn of 1862. It frequented the Humber foreshore,, in this parish, for nearly a week; and several ineffectual attempts were made to shoot it. In the spring of 1865 I saw an immature bird that was shot off Flamborough Head (a locality where the Sea-Eagle has been frequently observed). It was skinned and set up by Mr. Bailey, of that place. Mr. Boulton, of Beverley, has informed me of two occurrences, during the last ten years, of this Eagle in the young plumage, in Holderness. 3. PANDION HALI^ETUS (Linnaeus). Osprey. Now and then visits the neighbourhood of the Humber. Mr. Boulton had a splendid pair, shot about five years since on the river Hull, near Beverley. Also a beautiful mature female, contain- ing ova as large as peas, shot between Beverley and Driffield on May 4th, 1864 (Zoologist, p. 9207), measuring 5 feet 5 inches in extent of wing. The stomach contained the soft parts of freshwater fish, and a few fish-bones. An adult male was killed December 4th, 1868, in the Trent marshes, near Epworth and another shot in the same locality a few years previously, when devouring a large fish on the river-bank (Zoologist, s. s. p. 1559) . In the same volume is recorded the capture, in September 1868, of a specimen alive, but in a very exhausted state, BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. O by the crew of the Norwegian barque ' Lina/ in the middle of the North Sea. 4. FALCO CANDICANS, | j p Gmelin f mcm FALCO ISLANDUS, J Was shot at Flamborough several years since by that well-known bird-slayer, Thomas Leng, fisherman, Leng was shooting rock-pigeons at the time from the Speeton rocks, and says that at some distance the bird looked quite white, but on a nearer view he dis- tinctly saw that its plumage was speckled with black, although it was altogether a very light bird. It fell to the bottom of the cliff; and he sent his son down, also descending hinself to recover it, but was un- successful, as the rising tide had carried it out. One, a Greenland Falcon, recorded in Mr. Yarrell's 'British Birds/ p. 42, 4th edition, was killed in Robin Hood's Bay in November 1854*; there is no recent occurrence of either race of these noble birds in Holderness or North Lincolnshire. 5. FALCO PEREGRINUS, J. F. Gmelin. Peregrine Falcon. Provincial. Duck-Hawk, Hunting Hawk. Specimens both of the old and immature birds are met with nearly every autumn and winter ; and it has * There is a splendid example of the White or Greenland form in the Scarborough Museum, killed near that place. B2 4 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. on several occasions during the last ten years been observed in the North Lincolnshire marshes. One was trapped near Epworth on the 19th of March, 1868; another, a male of the second year, shot at Spurn Point on the 9th of October, 1869. Nests at Flamborough : there were two eyries of the Peregrine on the Speeton Cliffs, on the north side of that head- land, in the summer of 1867. 6. FALCO SUBBTJTEO, Linnaeus. Hobby. A summer visitant, occurring both in the adult and immature plumage. Breeds annually in the great woodlands near Louth, North Lincolnshire; also, as Mr. Adrian of Lincoln informs me, in woods be- tween Langworth and Wragby. Mr. Boulton writes that it is not unfrequently seen near Beverley, and that he has had several during the last few years shot near the river Hull, and at Spurn Point. It is mentioned in Mr. Alington's list* of birds found near Croxby Lake on the North Wolds. I have seen many Lincolnshire-killed specimens of the Hobby. 7. FALCO RUFIPES, Beseke. Red-footed Falcon. The notice of this rare species is restricted to a single specimen, a mature female, shot during the * A paper on the " Ornithology of Lincolnshire," by the Rev. R. P. Alington, published in the 'Naturalist ' for January 1852. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. O first week in November 186-1, by a sailor, from his ship at the mouth of the Humber. This bird came into the collection of Mr. Boulton, who has recorded the circumstance of its capture in the ' Zoologist ' for 1865, p. 9415. Mr. T. Boynton, of Ulrome Grange, has recently informed me of a second capture of this little Falcon namely, a mature male^ a very beau- tiful specimen, shot by R. Morris, at Bempton, June 18th, 1869, and now in the possession of Mr. T. Machin, of Bridlington. 8. FALCO ^ESALON, Grnelin. Merlin. Provincial. Little Hawk. A winter visitant ; specimens of this little Falcon, both in the mature and immature plumage, are occa- sionally met with during the autumn and winter ; but it must be considered rare. Usually one or two are seen each year during the former season in the marshes bordering the Humber; and it was not uncommon with us in the autumn of 1868. Mr. Boulton has also obtained them shot both near the river Hull and at Spurn. They have frequently occurred near Epworth in the Trent country ; also near the famous Ashby decoy in the same district, where I have seen a pair of adult birds, the male in the beautiful mature plumage. Two adult males were taken at Epworth in the winter of 1868-69 (Zoologist, s. s. 1559). About ten or eleven years since, Mr. Adrian 6 BIRDS OF THE HTJMBER DISTRICT. found the nest of a Merlin in Branston Booths, near Lincoln, on the border of the fen country (this wood is now taken up). The nest, which con- tained four eggs, was placed on the stump of a felled tree, and surrounded by thick grass and undergrowth. 9. FALCO TINNUNCULUS, Linnaeus. Kestrel. Provincial. Windhover. Common, and generally distributed throughout the district, where it also breeds. The Humber embank- ments and the adjoining marshes are, in the autumn, a very favourite hunting-ground for both the old and young birds. 10. ASTUR PALUMBARIUS (Linnaeus) . Gos-Hawk*. Practically extinct in North Lincolnshire and Hol- derness. One was shot to the north of Flamborough at Filey Brig the first week in October 1864 (Zoolo- gist for 1864, p. 9327) ; and in June of the same year an immature bird, now in the collection of Mr. Clap- ham, of Scarborough, was trapped on the Yorkshire moors, near Pickering. * In a letter to the Ibis ' for 1870, p. 292, Mr. Robert Gray mentions having recently met with a specimen of the American Gos-Hawk (Astur atricapillus) killed in Perthshire, and remarks on the possibility of American birds, bearing a close likeness to British species, occurring more frequently in the country than collectors are aware of. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 7 11. ACCIPITER NISUS (Linnaeus). Sparrow -Haivk; Everywhere, in spite of traps and guns, common, nesting regularly in all parts of the district. 12. MILVUS ICTINUS, Savigny. Kite. Provincial. Glead, Fueled, Thirty years since, this species was not uncommon in Lincolnshire, but can now hardly be considered a resident. As a boy I very well recollect seeing the " fork- tailed " Gleads, as we called them, soaring over the woodlands near Louth ; but I have seen none for the last twenty years. Mr. Alington says that one was observed in a plantation at Swinhope a few years ago, and that he has also now and then seen them passing over at a great height. Mr. Adrian, of Lin- coln, writes (March 27th, 1870) that he has not seen a Kite for four years, and that the Rev. A. Sutton got the last three eggs he took*. Mr. Boulton says * In a note (Ootheca Wolleyana, p. 116), Professor Newton states, "Mr. Adrian informed my brother that the Kites in Lincolnshire were becoming scarcer every year. This he attri- buted partly to the destruction of the birds, and partly to that of their favourite haunts, by the felling and " stubbing " of the woods, in two of which one hundred acres had been cut down since the beginning of the year, and this is the best locality. He said he found this nest on the 6th of May (1857), then un- finished ; on the 16th he called to see if there were any eggs in it, and found it had been completed by the addition of a few pieces of old rags, but there were no eggs. On making inquiry of some boys living in a cottage by the woodside, he discovered 8 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. that it has not occurred there for the last ten years, although formerly found near Beverley. He has seen a stuffed specimen, shot in that neighbourhood some years since *. 13. BUTEO VULGARIS, Leach. Common Buzzard. Partially migratory. Occurring occasionally, usu- ally in the spring and autumn ; breeds in the county. Mr. Adrian, of Lincoln, took one nest in the season of 1869 containing three eggs. A mature bird in very rich dark plumage was trapped by a gamekeeper in this neighbourhood in the winter of 1867. One was captured alive during the first week in November 1866, in the rigging of a vessel, in the dusk of the evening, off Flamborough Head (Zoologist, s.s. p. 597). A flight of five Buzzards, apparently of this species, passed over this parish on the 14th of April, 1868. They came from the direction of the sea (east), and were travelling westward. I am strongly inclined to think that the Buzzard is now of more common occurrence in this district than was the case a few that they had been to the nest and taken out two eggs : one got broken ; the other is the subject of this note." * Since the above was in type Mr. Adrian has informed me that early in 1871 he received eggs of the Kite along with those of the Common Buzzard, all unblown, from a person who had obtained them in Bullington Wood, near Wragby. They were taken in the spring of 1870, and had been kept nearly a year laid by in a basket. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 9 years since, and that it is nesting in two or three localities in the county. 14. ARCHIBUTEO LAGOPUS (LinnaPAis) . Rough- legged Buzzard. Occasionally met with, but more frequently in the autumn and winter, and then usually in immature plumage. Formerly nested year by year on the ground amongst heather, in the moor-dells, near Ash Hay Gill, about three miles from Hackness, near Scarborough*". Mr. Boulton has had several specimens captured in Holderness ; one of these, shot near the river Hull, and others at Spurn were particularly fine examples. One which I saw in the winter of 1867-68 was shot by some fishermen, whose boat was aground on the Yorkshire coast, near Hornsea, whilst devouring a bird, and brought into Grimsby along with its prey, a dusky Grebe. 15. PERNIS APIVORUS (Linnaeus). Honey-Buzzard. Nests, as Mr. Boulton says, amid the woody mar- gins of the "mere" at Hornsea. He has received several, shot in the neighbourhood of Beverley during the last few years. One in his collection, shot in that neighbourhood, September 26th, 1864, had the * See a paper in the Ibis ' for 1865, p. 12, by Mr. A. G. More, "On the distribution of Birds in Great Britain during- the nesting-season." B5 10 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. craw and stomach filled to distention with wasp- grubs (Zoologist for 1865, p. 9417). I have not met with a Lincolnshire-killed specimen of this bird. 16. CIRCUS JERUGINOSUS (Linnaeus). Marsh-Harrier. This species is now probably extinct in North Lincolnshire. I have met with no specimen, dead or alive, during the last ten years. Mr. Boyes men- tions* a young male Marsh-Harrier shot near Beverley on the 13th of October, 1871, and remarks, " quite a rare and accidental occurrence." 17. CIRCUS CYANEUS (Linnseus). Hen-Harrier <$ , Ringtail ? . The Hen-Harrier, as Mr. Alington informs me, used to be formerly very common in the low grounds in the parish of South Thoresby, but it must now be considered of only rare occurrence in the district. The drainage of the marshes, breaking-up of their old haunts by improved farming, and game-keeping have all had their share in reducing the numbers of this and many other species once common in the county. I have of late years occasionally come across it in the Great Cotes marshes. The adult male, on the wing, has much the appearance of a gull sweeping over the land. An old male was shot nearEpworth in the winter * Zoologist, 1871, p. 2847. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 11 v, of 1868-69. Nests on the ground in open woods and gorse fox-covers. Mr. Adrian has had their eggs out of Bullington Wood, near Wragby. 18. CIRCUS CINERACEUS (Montagu) . Montagu's Harrier. Two, both immature females, in Mr. Boulton's collection were shot of late years in Holderness one of these at Spurn, the other uncertain as to the exact locality. I have not met with this Harrier in North Lin- colnshire. EAPTOEES. STRIGID^E. 19. SCOPS ALDROVANDI, Bonaparte. Scops Eared Owl. This small and chastely marked Owl has been cap- tured on several occasions in Yorkshire during the present century*. I am aware of no recent occur- rence either in Lincolnshire or Yorkshire. v 20. OTUS VULGARIS, Fleming. Long-eared Owl. Provincial. Wood-Owl. By no means uncommon in the wooded parts of the district where it breeds. A pair nested lately in * Yarrell's 'British Birds/ 4th edition (Prof. Newton), p. 173. 12 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. an old magpie's nest, in a young plantation of spruce and larch, near my house. I had then frequent op- portunities of observing their habits. When, in May, the young, three in number, left the nest, they usually perched on the summit of those trees rising just above the level of the plantation, apparently in no degree incommoded by the glare of daylight; they kept constantly uttering a low wailing cry, re- sembling the whine of a puppy, and towards even- ing were always very noisy and unsettled. The old birds used to beat the fields and hedgerows during the day, in bright sunshine, and on dull days and towards evening were particularly active. I have known the remains of fourteen moles taken from a nest of this species. 21. BUBO MAXIMUS, Fleming. Eagle Owl. This noble bird has been recorded, on the autho- rity of Mr. Alington, as having been taken alive in the parish of Stainton-le-Vale, on the Lincolnshire North Wolds, in the year 1848 *. Mr. Alington has quite recently kindly informed me that he has good reasons for thinking that this bird was not a wild specimen. Some time after mentioning the circum- . stance of its capture to Mr. Morris, he learnt that the late Mr. D'Eyncourt, of Bayon's Manor, kept several of these birds in. a semiwild state in an old castellated building near his house ; and he has now * Morris's 'British Birds/ vol. i. p. 184. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 13 V, little doubt that it was an escaped bird from that colony. 22. OTUS BRACHYOTUS (Linnaeus). Short-eared Owl. Provincial. Woodcock Owl. A winter migrant, arriving on the east coast, often in very considerable numbers, from the first week in October to the middle of November. The winter of 1865-66 was characterized by large arrivals of these Owls, when, after some heavy northerly gales during the last fortnight in October, many appeared at various localities along the eastern coast. By 110 means uncommon in the Humber marshes, where I have seen as many as seven on the wing together. Their chief haunts are the shorn stubbles, or the long grass and reeds on the drain-banks anywhere, in fact, where there is plenty of good dry cover. I do not often find them in turnips. The open commons and heaths bordering the Ashby decoy, Manton Common and Twigmoor, and the wild district bor- dering the Trent have always been favourite loca- lities; and I am told that, in some seasons, from twenty to thirty are flushed in the course of a day's shooting. I have at various times on winter even- ings, just at dusk, seen them beating round the ricks in my marsh stack-yard for mice, and for the Spar- rows roosting beneath the eaves. In the winter of 1870-71 one remained in the vicinity of the farm for some months, living from the stacks; when a 14 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. mouse or bird was captured it was taken to the projecting stone sill of one of the " picking-holes " at the north end of the barn, overlooking the Humber, and there quietly eaten. From the large collection of mice-remnants found near this place, these destructive vermin must have had a bad time of it. My man, who lives at this farm, said he con- sidered the Owl " far before any cat." When kept in confinement, or at large in a gra- nary, which I have done on two or three occasions, I have observed that they invariably perch with two toes only to the front, the outer toe being turned to the rear. I have no positive evidence of the Short-eared Owl remaining to nest with us, but have little doubt that this is occasionally the case. In 1870 a pair remained all through the summer, in one of the reedy plantations near the Aylesby " beck," where I also saw several early in the autumn, and have often been surprised at finding those Owls near this place some time before the usual period of the autumnal migra- tion. Mr. More says, on the authority of Mr. A. S. Bell, that the nest has been once or twice taken near Scarborough. 23. STRIX FLAMMEA, Linnseus. Barn-Owl. Provincial. White Owl, Church-Owl, Meg-Owl, Screech-Owl. Generally distributed, but not as commonly met with as formerly. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 15 24. SYRNIUM STRIDULUM (Linnaeus). Tawny Owl. Provincial. Hooting-Owl. Still not uncommon in the best timbered parts of the county. 25. SURNIA NYCTEA (Linnaeus). Snowy Owl. There is no recent occurrence of this fine arctic species in this district. One was captured on board a Danish vessel in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland, in December 1867 (Zoologist, 1868, p. 1058). During the glacial period, this, like other northern species, probably ranged far south of its present haunts, and has since gradually retired with the Lap and his reindeer*. 26. NOCTUA TENGMALMI (Gmelin). Tengmalm's Owl. On the 1st of October, 1863, after a heavy gale from the north-east, a splendid female of this rare little Owl was taken in the daytime, in a field at Flamborough, by Robert Barkley, of that place. Ultimately it came into the possession of Mr. Boulton, who has recorded the circumstances of its capture in the ' Zoologist ' for 1864, p. 9020. 27. STRIX ACADICA, Gmelin. Saw-whet Owl. In the < Zoologist' for 1860, p. 7104, Sir William * The bones of the Snowy Owl (Surma nycted) have recently been discovered in Quaternary deposits in France. 16 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Milner thus records the capture of this small American Owl near Beverley. ft I do not recollect ever mentioning to you for insertion in the ' Zoo- logist/ an account of my having received from a young clergyman, a son of Mr. Bury, who has the church at Osberton (my brother-in-law, Mr. Fol- jambe's place), who, knowing I had a very fair col- lection of British birds, sent me a small Owl in a very curious case, which was shot in the East Riding of Yorkshire, not far from Beverley, by a keeper, a brother of Sir Thomas Whichcote's keeper, of As- warby, Lincolnshire. He sent this bird to his brother, who gave it to Mr. Bury, from whom I received it. I found out afterwards, from looking at Audubon's ' Birds of America/ that it was the Sparrow-Owl (Strix acadica). INSESSOXES DENTIROSTEES. LANIADM. 28. LANIUS EXCUBITOR, Linnaeus. Great Grey Shrike. Provincial. Matterer. An occasional autumn and winter visitant. During the last ten years there have been numerous occur- rences of this species in North Lincolnshire, prin- cipally near the coast at Saltneet, in which neigh- bourhood, as I am informed by Mr. Clayton, of Louth, several have been shot during the winter seasons. Mr. Boulton says that a few specimens BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 17 occur almost annually in Holderness; and in the 'Zoologist' for 1871, p. 2482, Mr. Boyes records no less than five obtained near Beverley in the severe winter of 1870-71. On the 10th of February, 1866, I saw a beautiful specimen in the Great Cotes marshes, perched on the topmost twig of a haw- thorn. In the stomach of one were the remains of two large beetles. Colonel Montagu* (February 1807) received a male from the Lincolnshire coast. 29. LANIUS COLLURIO, Linnaeus. Red-backed Shrike. Very rare. I have never met with or heard of a Lincolnshire-killed specimen of this bird. One, an adult female, as Mr. Boulton writes me, which he had in the flesh, was shot near Beverley four or five years ago, and is the only example he has seen of this species in that neighbourhood. INSESSORES DENTIBOSTXES. MUSCICAPID^. 30. MUSCICAPA GRISOLA, Linnaeus. Spotted Fly- catcher. A common summer migrant, arriving in North Lincolnshire in May, seldom, however, before the second week; it leaves again in September. Ac- cording to Mr. Wheelwright, this little bird has a * Montagu's Dictionary of British Birds (Newman's edition j the references to Montagu's Dictionary in this work are all to this edition), p. 307. 18 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. wide range over Scandinavia, going far up within the arctic circle*. The Spotted Flycatcher sometimes rears two broods during the summer. In July 1871 a pair in my garden, four days after the first brood had left the nest, commenced another within a foot or two of the old one, where a second brood was reared. 31. MUSCICAPA ATRICAPILLA, Linnaeus. Pied Fly- catcher. Has occurred both in the spring and autumn. One was seen by Mr. Alington in the spring of 1865, in the parish of Brigsley, arid it is the only specimen he has met with in North Lincolnshire. In the autumn of 1866 some were shot near Flamborough Head; and on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of May, 1867, Mr. Bailey, of that place, procured several out of a large flock containing birds of both sexes, mature and immature; eight of these were sent to Mr. Boulton (Zoologist, 1867, p. 542). Mr. Stevenson, in the ' Zoologist' for 1869, p. 1492, has recorded an extraordinary autumnal immigration of immature birds on the 14th and 15th of September, 1868, at Gunton, near Lowestoft, on the Suffolk coast. Breeds as far north as Lapland, and is mentioned in Som- merfeldt's list of the birds of East Finmark (Zoo- logist, 1867, p. 765). * ' Ten years in Sweden/ p. 295. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 19 INSESSORES DENTIROSTRES. MERTTLID&. 32. CINCLUS AQUATICUS, Bechstein. Common Dipper. A single Lincolnshire specimen is recorded by Mr. Alington, which he saw in the summer season, some years since, sitting on a stone in the Hallington " beck " near Louth. The gizzard of a Dipper which I examined contained small stones and the larvae of Coleoptera. It is not improbable that examples of the Dipper occurring in this district will be found on examina- tion to belong to the Scandinavian race or variety (Cinclus melanogaster) , having a black band across the abdomen instead of a chestnut as in the British bird. This northern form has been obtained on several occasions in Norfolk. 33. TURDUS VISCIVORUS, Linnaeus. Missel-Thrush. Provincial. Stormcock, Grey Thrush. A resident throughout the year, and of much more common occurrence than formerly. The ranks of our local birds are largely recruited in the autumn by additions from the north, arriving in flocks towards the end of August or beginning of Sep- tember. At this season they resort daily, in very considerable numbers, to the low-lying meadows and pastures bordering our streams. These immigrants do not remain throughout the winter; on the first 20 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. really severe weather they leave for a warmer and more southerly clirae. These autumn flocks are sometimes mistaken for those of the Fieldfare. Mis- sel-Thrushes may, however, readily be distinguished from the latter, even at some distance, by their light mealy appearance; hence a common local name. Shy and wary as these birds are, in the breeding- season they throw off much of their wildness. Their nest is often conspicuous, both from the materials used and the situation. I have seen one that was placed on the bough of an evergreen oak, within a few feet of a sitting-room window, and doubly conspicuous from being partly constructed of light-coloured scraps of paper thrown out by the paper-hangers. 34. TURDUS PILARIS, Linnseus. Fieldfare. Provincial. Felfur, Fulfur. A common winter visitant, arriving in large flocks from the middle of October to the end of November. Are exceedingly variable, both as to their time of arrival and numbers. In the winters of 1860-61, 1864-65, 1869-70 were very plentiful. There was also an immense immigration of these northern Thrushes on the 30th of November, 1868, on which day flocks passed over this parish from N. to S. for several hours. In the Great-Cotes and Stallin- borough marshes thousands were everywhere sitting grouped together on the pastures, like Golden Plo- vers, and this over a large extent of marsh land. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 21 These birds were probably en route for the south, as they remained only two or three days in the neigh- bourhood. In severe winters, when there is a scarcity of food, flocks of Fieldfares will frequent the fields of Swede turnips, and, like the Rook, drill holes into the bulbs : I have shot them in the very act, and found their stomachs quite full of the pulped Swede. This is a bad habit ; for it lets the frost into the root, and sub- sequently rots it. Wood-Pigeons have the same trick ; but I believe these latter never attack a root unless previously injured by insects or the bite of hares and rabbits ; their bill is not strong enough to penetrate the hard rind of a frozen Swede. Fieldfares come from great distances on winter evenings to roost in some favourite place. A plan- tation of young larch, having much rough grass in it, is greatly in demand for this purpose. They roost, as a rule, nearer the ground than the Redwing. I have known them roost on the ground, like Larks, both amongst grass and in shorn stubbles. They leave again in flocks for their northern breeding haunts from the middle of April to early in May, and are occasionally seen on our east coast as late as the second week in that month. 35. TURDUS MUSICUS, Linnaeus. Song-Thrush. Provincial. Throstle. Everywhere common, excepting in the open 22 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. treeless plains bordering the H umber, and numerous there for a few weeks in the autumn, when large migratory flocks come from the north, arriving on the east coast from about the middle of September to early in October. They are at this season found distributed throughout the turnip-fields, often in large numbers. I think it not improbable we have two races or varieties of the common Thrush the one our familiar garden friend, the other a dark race or variety, which comes only in the autumn. Along with the common Thrushes, which at that season are so frequent in our east-coast turnip-fields, I have often noticed many very dark birds, looking, when they first fly up, nearly as dusky as hen Blackbirds ; they are certainly darker than any of our resident Thrushes, with the underparts a richer and deeper yellow-buff, and the pectoral spots more prononcees *. Early on the morning of the 8th of December, 1871, I put up a score of these dark Thrushes from amongst some dry grass on a drain-bank close to the coast, and very far from either trees or bushes ; they were * Mr. R. Gray, in his < Birds of the West of Scotland/ p. 75, says, "In August and September of this year (1868) I observed numbers of Thrushes in North Uist taking shelter in dry stone dykes, and hopping from one crevice to another like disconsolate Wrens. I remarked particularly the unusually dark colour of their plumage, the birds being very unlike those brought up in cultivated districts, where gardens, trees, and hedgerows attract this familiar songster and its allies." BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 23 evidently new arrivals, having probably come in during the night. Before the end of November our immigrant Thrushes have departed, along with many of our re- sident birds, some remaining to winter in the district. 36. TURDUS ILIACUS, Linnaeus. Redwing. A winter visitant, but not nearly as common as the Fieldfare, and less gregarious than those birds. They arrive in small flocks from the middle of October and through November as a rule, appear- ing after the first flight of Fieldfares. They leave again in April ; and I have never observed them to linger, as is the case with the Fieldfares, beyond this month. Like the Thrushes, on their arrival they will sometimes resort for a few days to the fields of turnips for cole seed, and, like these birds, during long periods of frost and snow subsist principally on various Helices, whose shells are broken against some favourite stone suffering less from severe weather than the Fieldfares. Several instances are recorded of Kedwings having, during the period of migration, alighted on the rig- ging of vessels in the North Sea. Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., in the ' Zoologist 5 for 1868, p. 1483, mentions having found the remains of a Redwing in the stomach of a Fulmar Petrel. In this parish the Redwings roost in the same 24 BIRDS OF THE HTJMBER DISTRICT. plantation with the Blackbirds, perching on the young larch trees, about halfway up, several sitting together on the same branch. 37. TURDUS MERULA, Linnaeus. Blackbird. Generally distributed. Is much more numerous in this parish during the autumn and winter than in the summer. In the autumn large numbers migrate from the north of Europe, arriving in the east-coast districts in October, in company with the Fieldfare, and occasionally in separate flocks*. At this season I have sometimes found our marsh hedgerows near the coast literally swarming with Blackbirds, where the day previously scarcely one could have been found. Early in the morning of the 29th of October, 1870, after a wild, wet night, I counted fifteen (thir- teen of them cocks) fly from a small weather-beaten bush on the coast, where at any other time we might have looked in vain for one. There were also large flocks of Fieldfares on the adjoining stubbles, evidently quite recent arrivals. I have known a pair of these birds in my garden rear three broods in a season, and one case where the eggs were deposited and a second brood reared in the old nest. Mr. Boyes has recorded a similar * The Blackbirds, I am told, arrive at Spurn with the Field- fares, and along with these birds are often found dashed to death below the lanterns of the lighthouse ; the same fatality attending both the Redwings and Thrushes. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 25 circumstance in connexion with the Missel-Thrush (Zoologist, 1871, p. 2639). In winter they congre- gate for roosting, selecting some dense and thickly wooded plantation, one of spruce preferred. I once counted 135 Blackbirds enter a two- acre plantation of young spruce in this parish, between 3.40 and 4.15 of a winter's afternoon ; seventy of these coming in between 3.50 and 4 P.M. These 135 birds all entered the cover at one corner alone, and probably represented only one third of those using the place for roosting an extraordinary number considering the open treeless character of a large portion of this parish, and one very far in excess of our resident summer Blackbirds. Varieties occasionally occur, more or less pied. I have never met with that anomaly, a purely white Blackbird. In the ' Zoologist ' for 1872, p. 3020, Mr. Boyes mentions one he procured in that winter of a uniform dirty white, without a single dark feather. He further remarks that not one in twenty of the migratory Blackbirds in the autumn (that is, of the males) has a yellow bill, although apparently in adult plumage. I have observed the same thing, and have always supposed them to be birds of the year. 38. TURDUS TORQUATUS, Linnaeus. Ring- Ouzel. Occasionally met with during the spring and autumn. I have seen it in the latter season in com- c 26 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. pany with Fieldfares ; and Mr. Alington says that he meets with it sometimes as a wanderer at Swinhope. Mr. Boulton writes, it is shot each year near Beverley; it arrives with the Fieldfares and Redwings. Once, and once only has he found it nesting near Beverley. 39. ORIOLUS GALBULA, Linnaeus. Golden Oriole. Mr. Boulton had a pair in his collection, said to have been shot on the east coast. He can only, however, vouch for his authority being a fairly re- liable one. It is a summer visitant to Great Britain, and, if unmolested, would doubtless remain to nest with us. INSESSORES DENTIROSTRES. SYLVIADM. 40. ACCENTOR MODULARIS( Linnaeus). Hedge-Sparrow. Provincial. Nettle-creeper, Dunnock. A resident throughout the year, and common everywhere. Varieties of a rusty-buff colour have occurred near Driffield, in the East Riding (Zoologist, 1865, p. 9491). 41. ACCENTOR ALPINUS (Gmelin). Alpine Accentor. In the winter of 1862-63 a poor man offered for sale to Mr. Roberts, of Scarborough, a string of Larks and other small birds shot by him in the neighbourhood. Mr. Roberts, who purchased them, found this bird amongst the number. From Mr. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 27 Roberts it passed to Mr. Boulton, who mentions the circumstances of its capture in the ' Zoologist' for 1863, p. 8766. It is now in the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney, Junior. 42. ERYTHACA RUBECULA (Linnaeus) . Redbreast. From Mr. Stevenson's remarks in the ' Birds of Norfolk ' (vol. i. p. 91) on this favourite and familiar denizen of our gardens, it is not improbable that in the autumn migratory arrivals from the north swell the number of our home birds *. Several instances have been known where Redbreasts, along with other birds of passage, have alighted on vessels in the North Sea. Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun. (Zoologist, 1872, 2990), mentions a Robin, with other birds, killed against the " Owers " light vessel, off Selsey Bill (West Sussex), in the autumn of 1870. 43. PHCENICURA SUECICA (Linnaeus). Blue-throated Warbler. I have no record of the occurrence of this rare and beautiful wanderer to our shores, either in this county or East Yorkshire f. * Mr. Wheelwright says the Redbreast is a spring migrant to Scandinavia, leaving the latest and returning the earliest of any other migrant, some remaining throughout the winter; nests in the forests almost as far up as the arctic circle. t With reference to this species, Mr. J. R. Griffith (Oxford), in a communication to the ' Zoologist ' of December 1867, says, " I write to inform you of the occurrence of the Blue-throated c2 28 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 44. PHCENICURA RUTICILLA, Swainson. Redstart. By no means common. Individuals are sometimes met with in the spring and autumn in this parish. In two instances I have seen them in October, namely on the 8th and 13th, in both cases adult males. Breeds near Brocklesby, in the northern division of this county, but is considered rare. Has been seen in the North Sea in the autumn. 45. SAXICOLA RUBICOLA (Linnaeus). Stonechat. Resident, but nests very sparingly in North Lin- colnshire. An autumn and spring visitant, and, as a migra- tory, much more common than formerly. There has been a very marked increase in their numbers Warbler (Phoenicura suecica) off the coast of Norfolk. While coming from Christiania to London by the S. S. ' North Star,' we had observed many birds performing their autumnal migra- tion. The Wheatear, Titlark, and Ring-Dotterel had been seen in mid-ocean, flying easily against a light S.W. breeze. The number of these migrants increased as, on the 1st of September, we approached the Norfolk coast, many of them, as the weather was thick, settling on the ship. Among these was a bird which we took at first for a Redstart, as it sat up in the cross- trees, but which, on taking a short flight to the rail of the com- panion-ladder, was seen to be a Blue-throated Warbler, a bird of the year, with the blue feathers of the horseshoe inter- mingled with brown, in the same state of plumage as many procured two years before in the marsh at Fogstuen on the Dovre Pjeld. We watched it some time, until it flew off in the direction of Aldeburgh, distant then about twelve miles." BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 29 V during the autumns of the last three or four years ; were extremely abundant in the marshes during the autumn of 1870, the arrivals consisting principally of females and birds of the year, with a sprinkling of old males. A few remain in North Lincolnshire throughout the winter, frequenting the sheep-folds in the turnip- fields, and consorting with Pipits and Pied Wagtails. Those wintering with us are invariably in pairs, male and female, and mature birds. They arrive about the first fortnight in October. On the llth, 12th, and 13th of that month in 1869, just before the great storm, I found them numerous on the Marram- covered sand-hills at Spurn *. According to Mr. Wheelwright, is quite accidental both in Scandinavia and Denmark, and not known in Finland. 46. SAXICOLA RUBETRA (Linnseus) . Whin-Chat. One of the commonest of our summer visitants, arriving in North Lincolnshire from the 20th of April to the first week of May inclusive, and leaving again in October. Towards the end of August or early in September many, both mature and imma- ture, appear in the marshes along the coast, pro- * Mr. Boulton, writing on the Stonechat in the ' Zoologist ' for 1865, p. 9595, says, " I have never met with the Stonechat in the immediate neighbourhood of Beverley until the present month. On the 25th of March an old male was shot on Swine Moor, one of our common pastures. When shot it was alone : and no other of the same species has since been seen." 30 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. bably arrivals from the north ; they may then be seen in small family parties, half a dozen together, perched on the "stocks" of corn, and for a few weeks are everywhere common through the open marsh district bordering the river. In the absence of trees and bushes not unfrequently nest in the standing corn, or in rough grass on the drain-banks. Is found in Scandinavia in the summer. 47. SAXICOLA CENANTHE (Linnaeus) . Wheatear. A summer visitant, but not nearly as numerous as the last. The "sea-blue bird of March " arrives very regularly in our marshes during the first week in April. Have twice only observed it in March namely, in 1867 on the 30th, in 1871 on the 28th. Is frequently very backward in assuming the summer dress ; and individuals may be met with late in the spring still in winter plumage. Nests sparingly in North Lincolnshire, the greater proportion of the birds visiting us in the spring leaving again later in the season. Very common in the summer on the Yorkshire coast, between Spurn and Flamborough Head. Is again plentifully distributed throughout the marshes in the autumn, during September, usually leaving for the south towards the end of that month or early in October. I have observed it at Great Cotes as late as the llth of October, and at Flamborough on the 17th. Not unfrequently perches on trees and bushes. BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 31 48. SALICARIA LOCUSTELLA (Latham). Grasshopper Warbler. A rare summer visitant, occurring at very irregular intervals. Was not uncommon during the dry summer of 1868*, in the dense reedy plantations bordering the Great Cotes and Aylesby "beck," where, on summer evenings, I have listened to three or four of these strange warblers " reeling " in con- cert. They are a remarkably shy and retiring bird, and on the least alarm drop from the reed-stems into the undergrowth of thick aquatic vegetation, where the eye vainly attempts to follow them. The song, if such it may be called, which is nothing more than a monotonous whirr, like the spinning oWish- ing-reel, is uttered when clinging almost perpen- dicularly to a reed-stem. The mandibles of the bird are at this time wide apart, the throat greatly dis- tended, and there is also an odd shivering of the entire body. Mr. Boulton informs me that it is occasionally met with near Beverley. 49. SALICARIA PHRAGMITIS (Bechstein). Sedge Warbler. Provincial. Reed Sparrow. A summer visitant, and extremely common ticularly in that portion of the district bordering the * Since this season I have observed it as a regular but scarce summer visitant in North-east Lincolnshire. 32 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Humber. Arrives during the first week in May; earliest arrival noted during the last ten years in this parish, April 29th, latest May 7th. Departs about the end of September or first week in October; a few linger occasionally as late as the third week in that month. With reference to our little summer visitants, I am strongly of opinion that they return each year to their old quarters, nesting near the same place ; and am more particularly drawn to this conclusion from the fact of having so often seen Sedge Warblers, Tree- Pipits, Garden Warblers, and many other species for the first time each year near the same spot ; and this has now occurred so often that I am in the daily habit, during the time of the spring migrations, of looking for these little wanderers near the same bush, sheepfold, drain, or plantation-corner, and could mention numberless instances where, in the spring, year by year, often to a day, I have seen, for the first time, a pair of birds within a few yards of the same spot. 50. SALICARIA STREPERA (Vieillot) . Reed Warbler. Extremely rare; have only once seen it in this parish, and that in the autumn. Mr. Alington has never met with it in the neighbourhood of Croxby Lake, on the North Wolds nor have I, although yearly searched for in many very likely localities for its occurrence in this neighbourhood. Have found BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 33 it in the south of the county, near Boston*, where it nests. It also nests annually, as Mr. Adrian in- forms me, near Lincoln. 51. PHILOMELA LUSCINIA (Linnaeus). Nightingale. Formerly quite exceptional in the northern divi- sion of this county. The summer range of this most exquisite but plaintive songstressf evidently extends much further north than was formerly the case. Several were heard in this neighbourhood during the dry spring and summer of 1870; but this season (1871) they have been quite numerous, having oc- curred in every part of North Lincolnshire. 52. CURRUCA ATRICAPILLA (Linnseus). Blackcap. Locally distributed, but by no means common anywhere. I have not noted more than half a dozen during the last ten years. A pair frequented a small plantation in this parish during the summer of 1869, and probably bred in the vicinity. According to Mr. Alington, is occasionally met with in the neigh- bourhood of Croxby Lake. * Colonel Montagu mentions the south of Lincolnshire as a locality for this bird. t "Listen, How thick the bursts come crowding through the leaves ! Again thou hearest ? Eternal passion ! Eternal pain ! " M. ARNOLD. c5 34 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 53. CURRUCA HORTENSIS (Gmelin). Garden Warbler. A common summer visitant, and generally distri- buted both in gardens and plantations*. I can generally find two or three pairs in each small plan- tation in this and the adjoining parishes. Arrives during the first week in May, leaving again in Sep- tember. 54. CURRUCA CINEREA (Latham). Common White- throat. Provincial. Peggy Whitethroat. A regular summer visitant, and everywhere com- mon. Arrives usually during the fourth week in April : earliest arrival noted April 22nd ; latest, May 2nd. Departs about the end of September or early in October, some few individuals remaining even to the end of that month. 55. CURRUCA SYLVIELLA (Latham). Lesser White- throat. A summer visitant, arriving and departing about * Colonel Montagu, writing of the Greater Pettychaps, says, " In a tour across the kingdom, from the western to the eastern coast, this bird frequently occurred between the eastern parts of Somersetshire and Lincolnshire, and nowhere more abun- dant than between Spalding and Boston, in the last-mentioned county and, indeed, everywhere that shelter could be found, even in the few hedges about the village of Wainfleet, and in the thickets surrounding the decoys on the fens in that neigh- bourhood." Dictionary of British Birds, p. 234. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 35 the same time as its congener ; rather locally distri- buted, and more commonly met with in the oldest timbered portions of the district. I have frequently observed them in our solitary marsh-hawthorn and hedgerow shelters in the autumn, in company with the common species, Willow Wren, &c. Colonel Montagu remarks, "is more abundant in the en- closed parts of Lincolnshire than any other county "*. 56. SYLVIA SYLVICOLA, Latham. Wood Warbler. This exquisite and delicate bird must be considered a rather rare summer visitant to North Lincolnshire and Holderness, and is, I regret to say, of much less frequent occurrence than formerly ; I have not seen one in this parish for several years. It is now only found in the neighbourhood of old woodlands and well-timbered parks. Mr. Alington writes that " it was formerly not uncommon in Swinhope parish, but has of late years been a rarity." 57. SYLVIA TROCHILUS (Linnaeus) . Willow Warbler. One of the earliest and most numerous of our little summer warblers. The clear, silvery, ringing notes heard when first " rosy plumelets tuft the larch " are a sure indication of returning spring. Arrives about the second week in April (earliest arrival noted during the last ten years, April llth; latest, April 20th), leaves * Dictionary of British Birds, p. 378. 36 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. again from the end of September to early in October. It has in the autumn been known to alight on a vessel off the Yorkshire coast in company with Tree- Pipits and Whin-Chats and a Redstart*. Goes far up within the arctic circle, and is one of the commonest of the birds of East Finmark, where, according to Pastor Sommerfeldt, its covered nest is almost always lined with white Ptarmigan's feathers. 58. SYLVIA RUFA, Latham. Chiffchaff. A common summer visitant, but local, preferring well-timbered and sheltered situations to the bleak marsh hedgerows, or a sparsely timbered district. Arrives usually during the first week in April, occa- sionally as early as the last week in March. Is readily recognized by its constantly repeated note, not unlike the syllables ' ' chip, chip, chop," uttered in a feeble treble from the summit of some lofty tree. Departs in October, some remaining as late as the third week in that month. 59. REGULUS CRISTATUS, Koch. Golden-crested Wren. Provincial. Woodcock Pilot. A resident in our woodlands and plantations throughout the year, receiving large accessions in * See Mr. Stevenson's < Birds of Norfolk/ vol. i. p. 93 (quoted from ' Field Naturalist' for 1833, vol. i. p. 466). BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 37 the autumn, when flocks of these hardy but delicate and fragile looking little creatures cross the wild North Sea, arriving on our eastern shores in October. The migration of the Goldcrests is now a fact as well established as is that of the Woodcocks. They appear about the second or third week in October, preceding the Woodcocks by a few days ; and so well is this known to those living on the east coast of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire that they have earned for themselves the soubriquet of the " Woodcock-pilots. " Almost every year I find some about the second week of October, either on the Humber embankments or in the marsh hedgerows. On the 12th of that month in 1863 an extraordinary flight appeared in the Great- Cotes marshes. On that morning I observed large numbers of these fairy birds on the hedgerows and bushes in the open marsh district near the Humber, many also creeping up and down on the reeds in the drains, and at my lonely marsh farmstead quantities of these active little fellows, everywhere busily search- ing every nook and corner on the fold-yard fences, the cattle-sheds, and stacks. The Goldcrest appears in flocks every year, both at Spurn * and Flamborough, about the middle of October ; they have on several occasions been found dead beneath these lighthouses, having dashed bewildered against the glass lanterns in their night migration. * In 1869 the first flight of Goldcrests arrived at Spurn on the night of the llth of October. Wind N. W to N. 38 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Our fishermen say that they often at this season alight on the fishing-smacks in the North Sea; and in thick foggy weather hundreds perish, as they be- come quite bewildered, their instinct apparently for- saking them, not knowing which direction to take. It is not so much wild stormy weather and high winds that are fatal to our little migratories in their long dreary passage, but thick, and especially drizzly aaadfoffffy weather. Although the time of arrival of these, as well as many other of our winter visitors, is pretty well ascertained, we know as yet little of the date of their departure. No doubt these autumn flights do again leave our shores for the north in the spring ; and it is not improbable that the vernal migration is performed by the Goldcrests in little companies, and not in those large bodies we see in the autumn, and that they thus escape observation. I am led to this con- clusion from having in April seen them in small parties in the marsh hedgerows near the coast, situ- ations where they never remain to breed. Some are resident throughout the year in Scandinavia. 60. REGULUS IGNICAPILLUS (Brehm) . Fire-crested Regulus. I cannot ascertain that this rarity has ever been captured in the Humber district. It is, however, probably of more common occurrence in this country than is generally supposed, and has hitherto been BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 39 overlooked. One, recorded by Mr. Yarrell, was captured on the rigging of a vessel five miles off the coast of Norfolk in October 1836. INSESSORES DENTIXOSTRES. PARIDM. 61. PARUS MAJOR, Linnaeus. Great Titmouse. Provincial. Blackcap, Ox-eye. Plentiful and resident throughout the year. 62. PARUS C^ERULEUS, Linnaeus. Blue Titmouse. Provincial. Bluecap, Willow-biter. Generally distributed. 63. PARUS ATER, Linnaeus. Coal Titmouse. Not uncommon ; resident throughout the year, but of more common occurrence in the winter. 64. PARUS PALUSTRIS, Linnaeus. Marsh-Titmouse. Not nearly as numerous as the preceding, but of late years oftener met with than formerly. I have never taken the nest of the Marsh-Titmouse in this neighbourhood, but have no doubt whatever that it breeds annually with us, as we find them in some of our low-lying plantations throughout the year. 65. PARUS CAUDATUS, Linnaeus. Long -tailed Titmouse. Provincial. Bottle-Tit. Plentifully distributed, a resident throughout the year, and collecting in small flocks in the autumn. 40 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 66. CALAMOPHILUS BIARMICUS (Linnaeus). Bearded Titmouse. Once common in the fen-districts in this county. Have never met with a Lincolnshire-killed specimen of this most beautiful and peculiar species. Mr. Boulton had a pair, male and female, shot in Lin- colnshire, which his uncle, Dr. Boulton, of Horn- castle, received in the flesh. The gizzard is very muscular ; I have found it contain the seeds of some sort of reed or grass, and coarse river-sand. IN8ES80KES DENTIROSTRES. AMPELIDJ3. 67. BOMBYCILLA GARRULOUS (Linnaeus) . Waxwing. Provincial. Waxy. An occasional winter visitor. Is plentiful in some winters, and as rare in others. Very numerous in the winter of 1849-50 during the months of January and February, and again in the winter of 1863-64, in which season in November some large flocks appeared in Holderness. Again, early in January 1867, flocks of Waxwings arrived along the north- east coast of Yorkshire, and many specimens were shot ; and in the same season several were procured on the Lincolnshire coast near Donna Nook and Saltfleet. I have occasionally met with it in North Lincolnshire ; and Mr. Boulton has had within the last few years several fine examples shot in Holder- ness. The gizzard and crop usually contain haw- thorn-berries swallowed entire. BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 41 INSESSOBES DENTIEOSTEES. MOTACILLIDJE. 68. MOTACILLA YARRELLI, Gould. Pied Wagtail. Provincial. Oat-bird, Dish-washer. A resident throughout the year, but partially migratory, a small proportion only of our summer birds remaining through the winter, during which season, in company with Pipits and an occasional Stone-Chat, they resort to the turnip-fields, remaining in close attendance upon the folded sheep, and suc- ceed in picking up a tolerable sustenance by search- ing amongst the fangs of the freshly pulled bulbs for the eggs and larvae of various insects. The gradual increased area placed under turnip-cultivation in our marshes during the last fifteen years has supplied for these and kindred species a source of winter food pre- viously unattainable, and offers inducements to these delicate birds to brave even the severest winters in our inhospitable marshes. Previously to the general cultivation of the root-crop they were not known as winter residents. In the winter succeeding the dry summer and autumn of 1868, when the turnip-crop throughout North Lincolnshire was almost a complete failure, no Wagtails remained, although the season was unusually mild and free from frosts. There are always large arrivals of these little birds in our marshes from the second week in March to the end of the month, some of which remain to breed ; the rest, after a residence of about ten days or a fort- 42 BIRDS OF THE HUMBEB DISTRICT. night, leave the neighbourhood. In the summer of 1871 1 saw two varieties in this parish ; in both cases the birds, which belonged to separate broods, were a pale buff or cream colour, with the primaries and tail- feathers two shades darker. 69. MOTACILLA ALBA, Linnaeus. White Wagtail. Have on two or three occasions during the last ten years met with specimens of this continental Wag- tail on the north-east coast of Lincolnshire during the period of the spring migration, at the time when the Pied Wagtails arrive, namely the latter part of March. In this little bird (which is very closely allied to our familiar species) the black cap contrasts very strongly with the light pearl-grey back ; there is also much more white on the sides of the neck and flank than in M. yarrelli; and it is altogether a whiter, more delicate, and graceful-looking bird. When once seen, it is readily distinguishable from either the male or female of the pied species, even on the wing and at some distance. 70. MOTACILLA BOARULA, Latham. Grey Wagtail. Provincial. Winter Wagtail. A regular winter visitant. This hardy and grace- ful little fellow is seldom seen elsewhere than in the immediate vicinity of running water, where it picks up a subsistence even in the hardest seasons. Was unusually plentiful in the severe winter of 1869-70. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 43 Arrives about the last week in September or early in October, leaving again in March. Have never met with any in our marshes in the breeding-plumage. Mr. Boulton,in the 'Zoologist' for 1865, p. 9596, mentions a male in the full breeding-plumage shot on the 28th of March in that year on Swine Moor near Beverley, and a female shot in the same locality on the following day. 71. MOTACILLA RAYI, Bonaparte. Yellow Wagtail. A summer visitant. The most common and the least aquatic of any of the Wagtails. Arrives about the middle of April, leaving again in September. INSESSOEES DENTIEOSTEES. ANTHID&. 72. ANTHUS ARBOREUS, Bechstein. Tree-Pipit. A summer visitant, arriving about the second week in April. Have twice observed it as early as the 5th of the month, and once known it tarry as late as the 16th. Leaves again in September. Very common during the spring and summer in the swampy plan- tations and thickets bordering the Great Cotes and Aylesby ' ( beck." Is most frequently found in the neighbourhood of water. 73. ANTHUS PRATENSIS (Linnseus). Meadow-Pipit. Resident throughout the year, receiving, however, larger accessions to their numbers in the early spring, which depart again in the autumn after the breeding- 44 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. season *. The Meadow-Pipit is the first of our little spring visitors whose cheery note we welcome in our bleak marshes, where they arrive early in March, usually preceding the less-hardy Pied Wagtail by a full fortnight. Nests to far up within the arctic circle. 74. ANTHUS OBSCURUS (Latham). Rock-Pipit. Rarely met with on the flat Lincolnshire coast, and then only in the autumn. Numerous on the York- shire coast in the vicinity of Flamborough Head ; and I have also seen it at Spurn, where it breeds. Oc- casionally occurs during the autumn within the H um- ber, either on the sea embankments or along the borders of the marsh drains. 75. ANTHUS RUPESTRIS (Nilsson). This, the common Rock-Pipit of Scandinavia, is closely allied to the preceding, from which it may be distinguished by its rich buff-coloured breast, as well as the size and distribution of the pectoral spots. It is not improbable that it sometimes occurs on our eastern coast in the autumn, and, from its close re- semblance to A. obscurus, may have hitherto been overlooked. With reference to this bird, Professor Newton informs me that in October 1869, when he * Both the old and young birds congregate early in September in flocks of from 20 to 50 previously to leaving the district, which they do about the end of the month. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 45 was crossing from Gottenburg to Hull, some examples came on board the steamer ; one of these remained a long time, but, after passing the Dogger bank, left and joined a fishing-smack. Had it remained a few hours longer it would have sighted the Spurn. 76. ANTHUS CAMPESTRIS (Bechstein) . Tawny Pipit. My notice of this rare visitor is restricted to a single specimen, a male, with the plumage in a very faded and abraded state, shot on the 20th of November, 1869, on the sand-hills three miles south of Bridling- ton Quay, by T. Boynton, Esq., of Ulrome Grange. This bird was identified as A. campestris by Mr. Boulton and Sir H. Boynton, and their opinion after- wards confirmed by Mr. Gould (' Zoologist' for 1870, p. 2068). INSESSOEES CONIEOSTEES. ALAUDIDJE. 77. ALAUDA ALPESTRIS, Linnaeus. Shore-Lark. Probably occurs on the east coast more frequently than is generally suspected. Has been shot in the winter and spring both at Spurn Point and Flam- borough. In the spring of 1866 Mr. Bailey, of the latter place, killed two out of a flock of twelve in a grass -field near the Speeton cliffs, the highest portion of the Flamborough coast : they were very shy and wild. One of these, a mature male, was sent to Mr. Boulton. Three, all males, were shot at Spurn on the 46 BIRDS OF THE HTJMBER DISTRICT. 19th of February, 1870. It is not unlikely that the males and females in this species, like the Chaffinch, separate into distinct flocks during the winter. Those killed in England at this season are almost invariably males ; and out of fifty shot by the late Mr. Wheel- wright near Quickiock, Lapland, on their first arrival in the spring, with one exception all were males. 78. ALAUDA ARVENSIS, Linnseus. Sky -Lark. Common and resident throughout the year. Im- mense flocks arrive in East Yorkshire and Lincoln- shire from the continent from the middle of September to the end of October. Migrates in small flocks during the day, also in the night. I have, when on the coast in the autumn, noticed, hour after hour, little com- panies of Larks coming in from the sea, flying but a few feet above the surface and also when at sea during the night recognized their familiar notes. Larks at this season are often killed by dashing at night against the lanterns of Spurn and Flamborough, These immigrants collect in immense flocks on the marsh stubbles and pastures, but on the first really severe weather, or when the supply of food becomes exhausted, they retire further south *. In the winter * In the first week of December 1863, preceding the advent of some very wild and stormy weather, an extraordinary flight of Larks arrived in the Great-Cotes marshes, but only remained for two or three days. During this time the tract of land immediately adjoining the river, stubble and pasture lands alike, was quite covered with their immense flocks. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 47 our resident birds feed principally on the young shoots of various grasses, and, in long- continued frost and snow, on the leaf of the swede turnip. At this sea- son, too, just at dusk, I have often noticed large numbers of Larks flying towards some favourite roosting-ground, either amongst rough grass or shorn wheat-stubbles. Buff or cream-coloured varieties sometimes occur. 79. ALAUDA ARBOREA, Linnaeus. Wood-Lark. I have never met with this species in North Lin- colnshire. INSESSORES CONIROSTRES. EMBERIZID&. 80. PLECTROPHANES NIVALIS (Linnaeus.) Snow- Bunting. Provincial. Snow-flake, Snow-bird, Norway Sparrow. This hardy but beautiful little arctic bird is a con- stant winter visitor, never, however, going very far from the coast. Their time of arrival and numbers are regulated much by the mildness or severity of the season. They were extremely plentiful in the severe winters of 1860-61, 1869-70, and again arrived in extraordinary numbers in the autumn of 1871*. Scarcely any visited us in the mild and open winters of 1862-63, 1868-69. UsuaUy arrives in flocks from * The winter of 1871-72, however, although commencing with some severe weather, was unusually open and mild. 48 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. the middle of October to the end of November. The earliest I have seen them was at Spurn on the llth of October. They leave us again about the end of February or early in March, some few remaining as late as the middle of that month ; and in 1872 I ob- served five on the Humber embankment on the 25th. The little Snow-flake will find food and thrive in the severest winters, after all our small feathered friends have been driven by frost and snow from the cold and exposed marshes, feeding on the seeds of various grasses picked from the withered bents rising above the carpet of snow. They are nearly always exces- sively fat. The stomachs of some Snow-Buntings from the Great Cotes marshes in the winter of 1871 (as Mr. Peter Inchbald was kind enough to inform me) contained almost exclusively the seeds of Scho- beria maritima, one of the Chenopodiacese, a native of the sandy tracks near Spurn Point. Roosts ge- nerally amongst rough grass on the pastures. 81. EMBERIZA MILIARIA, Linnaeus. Common Bunting. Provincial. Corn-Bunting. A resident throughout the year, but is far more common in our east coast marshes during the autumn and winter (when it is gregarious) than at any other season*. I have observed that pied and light varieties * Mr. Saxby remarks, in the 'Zoologist,' that Common Bun- tings arrive in large flocks in Shetland during the autumn, and leave again in the spring. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. \ occur in this species oftener than with any other of our small birds. 82. EMBERIZA SCHCENICLUS, Linnaeus. Black- headed Bunting. Provincial. Reed-Sparrow. A resident throughout the year, but rather locally distributed. Very common in the Humber marshes and those other localities in the district which are suitable to its habits. Partly gregarious during the winter months, when they resort to the stubbles, and in severe weather the stack- and fold-yards; frequently, too, along withthe Pied Wagtails and Pipits, haunting the sheep-folds on the turnips. 83. EMBERIZA CITRINELLA, Linnaeus. Yellow Bunting. Provincial. Yellow Yorling or Yoldring. Generally distributed; probably partially migra- tory. Small flocks in the autumn and winter, along with other grain-eating birds, resort to the marsh stubble-fields. Our familiar Yellow Bunting extends far north, breeding even within the Arctic Circle. INSESSORES CONIROSTRES. FRINGILLIDJE. 84. FRINGILLA CCELEBS, Linnaeus. Chaffinch. Provincial. Pink. Everywhere plentiful. Partially migratory ; large 50 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. flocks of females and young birds arriving on the coast from about the middle to the end of October,, when they resort for a time in company with Green- finches, Corn -Buntings, and other hard-billed birds to the stubbles; as winter approaches they leave the marshes for the enclosures. Occasionally I have ob- served a few old males in these flocks ; but they are quite the exception, and it is very remarkable how rarely we come across a flock of old males. Chaffinches are sometimes killed by flying against the glass lan- terns of the east-coast light-houses and light-ships ; and I have been told of one instance in which a flock alighted at dusk on the deck of a fishing-smack in the North Sea. 85. FRINGILLA MONTIFRINGILLA, Linnaeus. Brambling. Although small numbers of this pretty Finch visit us nearly every winter, it can scarcely be considered common. We generally meet with a few females and young birds in the marshes during October ; but it is rather singular that every specimen of the old male I have hitherto obtained in North Lincolnshire has been single. During the winter of 1860-61, as Mr. Alington informs me, when the beech-mast was so plentiful, hundreds visited the neighbourhood of S win- hope. Large flocks also arrived in the neighbourhood of Beverley in the autumn of 1864, in which year there was likewise an abundance of beech-mast. The BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 51 earliest arrival of the Brambling which I have noted was at Spurn on the 10th of October, 1869 ; the latest appearance in the spring, April 9th, a beautiful male in the breeding dress. 86. PASSER MONTANUS (Linnaeus). Tree-Sparrow. A resident throughout the year and breeding with us. I have taken the nest in close- clipped fences, also from pollard hawthorns overhanging the drains. Very large flocks, probably migratories, visit East Lincolnshire in October*, leaving again in the early spring, about the end of March. They feed daily in the stubble-fields in the enclosed country where there are plenty of hedges, and are rarely seen in the open marshes. I have sometimes seen five or six hundred together. In very severe weather they occasionally resort to the stack-yards, but are at all times rather shy and wary, shunning alike the society of man and their noisy domestic cousins. Colonel Montagu found the Tree- Sparrow breeding in pollard willows near Wainfleet, and was the first naturalist to point out the similarity in the plumage of the sexes. The nest resembles that of the domestic bird, of dead grass lined with wool or feathers. The Tree-Sparrow is one of those species which has * In November 1860, as recorded by Mr. E. H. Rodd, of Pen- zance, a large flock of Tree-Sparrows alighted on a Norwegian vessel in the North Sea, between the Dogger bank and the Galloper light-ship. D2 52 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. recently greatly increased and multiplied ; ten years since it was quite a rare bird in this neighbourhood. I have found the crops and gizzards of the Tree- Sparrow filled with the seeds of Plant ago major. 87. PASSER DOMESTICUS (Linnaeus). House- Sparrow. There has been during the last ten years a marked luorease in the numbers of our familiar domestic bird, due probably in some measure to the larger area under cereals, but more especially to their present almost complete immunity from persecution during the nesting-season. A few years ago ' ' Sparrow money " was a regular entry on the books of most of our parishes ; but I find the time-honoured custom has now in a great measure been discontinued, and there is consequently not the same inducement to every idle urchin of the village to collect the nestlings. Mr. Boulton, in the ' Zoologist' for 1865, p. 9531, speaks of a breed of Black Sparrows at Leven, in Holderness : the males deep blackish brown, so black as to be only distinguished from that colour when in hand; the females are a shade lighter; young covered with slaty-black down. White and party-coloured varieties also occasionally occur. A common form is with more or less of the primaries white. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 53 88. COCCOTHRAUSTES VULGARIS, Stephens. Haw- finch. An occasional, but rather uncertain winter visitant, yet of more common occurrence during the last ten years. Several specimens during this period have been obtained in East Yorkshire and near Flam- borough Head. It is mentioned in the list of birds found near Croxby Pond on the North Wolds ; and Mr. Alington says he has frequently procured speci- mens from the rectory garden at Swinhope. I have no positive notice of their having bred in this district. 89. COCCOTHRAUSTES CHLORIS (Linnaeus). Green- finch. Provincial. Green Linnet. Common and resident throughout the year ; large migratory nocks also come from the north in the autumn, about the middle of October. These resort to the stubbles near the coast, to feed (in company with Linnets and Twites) on the seeds of various weeds, as the common charlock, goose-grass, and knot-grass (Polygonum aviculare}. These are principally females and young of the year, with a slight sprinkling of old males. The males, as a rule, keep together in separate flocks; the separation of the sexes, however, in this species during the winter is not so complete as with the Chaffinch. Green- finches are often very late in pairing; and I have seen 54 BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. on several occasions large flocks of adults in the marshes as late as the first week in June, feeding on the seeds of the groundsel. 90. CARDUELIS ELEGANS, Stephens. Goldfinch. Provincial. Redcap. This elegant and favourite little bird is by no means common with us, excepting in the autumn, when small family parties of six or seven together are found on the road-sides and on waste land, feeding on the seeds of the thistle, ragwort, &c., but even at this season are now not nearly as common as in former years; their decrease in this highly farmed district may easily be accounted for by the de- struction of those weeds whose seeds afford their usual food. 91. CARDUELIS SPINUS (Linnaeus) . Siskin. Extremely rare. Some years since, in the autumn, I saw a small flock amongst some alders growing in a swampy patch near the Cotes " beck; " this is the only occasion I have met with any in this county. They are equally rare in Holderness. Mr. Boulton saw one, a female, shot from a flock of four, near Beverley, by Mr. Joseph Boyes in October 1866. He has only seen two other specimens of the Siskin in that neigh- bourhood. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 55 92. LINOTA CANNABINA (Linnseus) . Common Linnet. Provincial. Grey Linnet, Brown Linnet. Common and universally distributed, their numbers augmented in the autumn by large migratory flocks from the north. These resort for a time, in company with the Mountain-Linnet, to the sand hills along the coast, where they feed on the seeds of the sea-purslane and other shore-loving plants. When the supply be- comes exhausted, they retire to the stubbles in the salt marshes,, and daily render great services by picking up and consuming countless minute seeds of charlock, knot-grass, and many other weeds injurious to the labours of the husbandman. 93. LINOTA CANESCENS (Gould). Mealy Redpole. I have not met with this northern Redpole in Lincolnshire. Mr. Boulton informs me he has had one specimen obtained from a flock in the early winter in Holderness some years ago, but has not met with it since. The Mealy Redpole in certain years appears to be by no means uncommon in the neighbouring county of Norfolk, and was extremely plentiful there from October to Christmas in 1861 *. Breeds in the extreme north of Europe. * Mr. Stevenson's ' Birds of Norfolk/ vol.i. page 228. 56 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 94. LINOTA LINARIA (Temminck) . Lesser Red- pole. Not common, but resident throughout the year, breeding regularly in the district, is more or less distributed in small flocks during the winter in the salt marshes and low-lying lands along the coast, feeding like the Linnets on the seeds of various weeds. The breeding-range of this species does not extend into Scandinavia. 95. LINOTA MONTIUM (Temminck). Twite. A regular autumnal visitant. I have shot them in our Humber marshes as early as the 10th of August. In mild open winters many small flocks remain throughout the season in the vicinity of the coast, sub- sisting on the seeds of various salt-loving plants. Nests generally throughout Yorkshire ; but I have never found them breeding south of the Humber. 96. PYRRHULA VULGARIS, Temminck. Bullfinch. Commonly distributed throughout the wooded portion of the country, where it nests. It is doubtful whether our resident birds receive any direct augmen- tation in the autumn from the continent. They are certainly at this season much commoner both in plan- tations, gardens, and hedgerows ; but their frequency there may be accounted for by the old and young birds leaving their summer haunts in the thick woods and BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 57 \ plantations, to wander along the hedgerows and thickets in search of ripe blackberries and other wild fruits, to which they are very partial. 97. LOXIA CURVIROSTRA, Linnaeus. Common Crossbill. Must be considered now only an occasional wan- derer to this district. Formerly, Mr. Alington says, it was not uncommon in the neighbourhood of Swin- hope. Has frequently during the last ten years oc- curred in the East Riding and in Lincolnshire during the autumn. Mr. Boulton has received several speci- mens shot at Flamborough Head, and writes me that ti-W-u is found in flocks in the Sledmere and Castle-Howard woods. Several were seen and obtained in various localities in North Lincolnshire in the autumn of 1868, during which season large numbers appeared in various parts of England. 98. LOXIA PITYOPSITTACUS, Bechstein. Parrot Crossbill. A single specimen, a female, of this rare northern Crossbill was shot by Mr. Bailey, of Flamborough, on the Headland during the first week in August 1866, and was received in the flesh by Mr. Boulton, who mentions the circumstance of its capture in the 'Zoologist' for 1867, p. 543. D5 58 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. INSESSOEES CONIEOSTEES. STUENIDJE. 99. STURNUS VULGARIS, Linnaeus. Common Starling. Provincial. Stare, Chepster. Extremely numerous, and greatly increased in numbers during the last ten years. Enormous flocks arrive in the east-coast marshes from the continent in the autumn; and at this season, after wild and thick nights, they have often been found killed be- neath the lanterns of Spurn and Flamborough. When at the former place in October 1869, I was told by one of the light-keepers that a flock of Starlings had recently alighted during a foggy night on the dome of the lantern, where they kept up a continued chat- tering. They arrive on the east coast from the middle of September to the end of October ; and it is no un- usual circumstance between these dates to see flocks numbering tens of thousands in the open marsh- district bordering the sea. Later in the season these break up into small companies and disperse themselves over the country, probably from the necessity of ex- tending their range of feeding-grounds as the coast districts become exhausted but unite in the evening and resort to some common roosting-place, departing again in small bands in every direction at daybreak. In the spring they reassemble permanently into vast flocks for some weeks previous to leaving the country. This vernal migration takes place about the first or second week in April, and probably, like the BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 59 autumnal movement, is carried on during the night : one day we find enormous flocks in the coast marshes, where the next morning not a bird is to be seen. In cold and backward springs they will sometimes hang about till late in April, weeks after our resident Star- lings have paired and are incubating. Varieties occasionally occur. A pure white bird was shot in this neighbourhood in November 1868. 100. PASTOR ROSEUS (Linnseus). Rose-coloured Pastor. Mr. Boulton received a splendid mature male in the flesh shot on the 26th of August, 1866, on Cot- tingham Common near Beverley*. An adult male was also obtained near Scarborough in July 1863 f- INSESSORES CONIROSTEE&. CORVID&. 101. CORVUS CORAX, Linnseus. Raven. Judging from the name of a neighbouring parish J, * See < Zoologist' for 1866, s.s. p. 29. f See a list by Mr. Roberts, published in Theakston's ' Guide to Scarborough/ of rare birds obtained near that place. f Ravendale near Grimsby. The name is also retained in Ravensfleet on the Trent, Ravensthorpe in the same district, and Ravensthorpe near Broughton, Brigg. On the Yorkshire coast at the Humber's mouth once flourished the town of Ravenspurn, a place of considerable importance at a period when Hull was a poor fishing-village j Henry IV. landed there in 1411. It was gradually encroached upon and swallowed up by the sea ; and its former site is in deep water half a mile west of the present Spurn lights. 60 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. the Raven was at one time a resident in North Lin- colnshire. It has now long ceased to be found either in this county or in Holderness ; and although I have made many inquiries, I can hear of none as either seen or captured during the last ten years in this district. Formerly bred 011 the cliffs at Flamborough ; the last nest was taken from the cliff near the well- known "King and Queen" rocks about thirty-five years ago. 102. CORVUS CORONE, Linnaeus. Carrion- Crow. Provincial. Cad Crow. Common, and generally distributed. From a large extent of North Lincolnshire being unpreserved, or only partially so, our Crows have enjoyed an immunity from persecution not shared in by their brethren in the large game-preserving counties. Their nests may be found in all the great woodlands and most of the smaller plantations and spinneys in the district. They are likewise very partial to hedgerow timber where the trees are of sufficient age and altitude, par- ticularly detached trees in the marshes commanding an uninterrupted range. In the winter they resort much to the Humber flats, consorting and feeding with Hooded Crows on various shell-fish and garbage cast up by the tide. I do not consider the Carrion- Crow so early a breeder as some authors allege, as we seldom find young branchers in the plantations before the first BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 61 \veek in June. The Carrion- and Hooded Crows as- sociate for roosting ; and I believe all of both these species in this immediate neighbourhood, to the num- ber of several hundreds, resort during the winter season to two small and lonely plantations adjoining the Aylesby " beck/' which they have all to themselves, as no Rooks accompany them. Here, on moonlit nights, when duck-shoo ting, I have found them perched by scores on all the central trees trees practically unapproachable at night, from the treacherous and boggy nature of the soil and the many concealed "blowwells" and small drains. When the night is very light, on the report of a gun they rise, and with wild flappings and hoarse cries fly round and round the cover. The ground under these trees is strewn with their castings or pellets, mainly composed of the outer skin or bran of grain, broken marine shells, and fragments of chalk-stone. 103. CORVUS CORNIX, Linnseus. Hooded Crow. Provincial. Hoodie, Grey-backed Crow, Denmark Crow. An autumn visitant, and extremely abundant du- ring the winter in all the coast district, and along the Humber shores. They arrive about the 7th of Octo- ber, usually three or four days in advance of the Woodcocks, occasionally an odd bird or two appear- ing as early as the 25th of September; but these are exceptional cases. The Hooded Crows probably migrate both during the day and night; at least 62 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. some portion of them come over in the daytime. On the afternoon of October 18th, 1866, wind S.E., when at sea two miles S.E. of Flamborough Head, I observed a long straggling flock pass over, flying at a considerable height, but gradually descending as they neared the white cliff's of the headland. They keep much together in small flocks and companies during the winter, but by the first week in March have broken up into pairs, only congregating again for some special object, and for a few days previously to leaving the country. On the morning of the llth of April, 1870, I saw about a score leave the coast, flying in line at a considerable altitude, by a course which, if persevered in, would land them on the Naze in twelve hours. Like the Carrion-Crow, they devour almost any thing, in long-continued frost and snow attacking and flying off with weakly and half-starved birds, as Fieldfares and Thrushes. In the early spring they wade the shallows in the drains, and commit great havoc amongst the frog-colonies on their spawn- ing-grounds. In the spring of 1871 I saw a pair of these Crows in the Cotes marshes on the 13th of May, and a single bird on the 23rd. The same year, on the 22nd of June, Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., ob- served a pair at Flamborough*. * Mr. Yarrell (Brit. Birds, 2nd edition, vol. ii. p. 85), on the authority of Mr. W. C. Williamson, Curator of the Nat.-Hist. Society, Manchester, says: "The Hooded Crow has been known to breed near Scarborough on two or three occasions. In one instance a female Hooded Crow was seen to pair with BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 63 104. CORVUS FRUGILEGUS, Linnaeus. Rook. Generally distributed, and each year gradually in- creasing several fresh colonies, offshoots from the great rookeries, having been founded during the last ten years. In the marshes and their border-lands, where trees are sparsely scattered, odd situations are sometimes selected for nesting. I have known them build in pollard willows, in young ash plantations where the trees average below twenty feet, on an apple-tree in an orchard not more than seven feet from the ground, and several nests in a rough quick- thorn hedge. They congregate in enormous flocks during the autumn and winter, feeding daily in the marshes; hundreds also every morning cross the H umber to the fertile lands of Holderness, returning at sunset to roost in the Lincolnshire woods. There is no more familiar sight in our marsh land on a win- ter afternoon than the long flight of Rooks returning homeward in still calm weather mere black moving specks against the crimson glow of sunset, but on wild stormy evenings flying very low, often but a few feet above the marsh. The following anecdote of the Rook is related by a Carrion-Crow on a large tree at Ilackness, where they suc- ceeded in rearing their young." In the western districts of Scotland, where both the Hooded and Carrion-Crow are found, the two species invariably pair. See Mr. Gray's < Birds of the West of Scotland/ p. 170. 64 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Mr. C. E. Smith in the f Zoologist' for 1866, s.s. p. 455, on the authority of Captain Gravil, of the ill- fated whaler ( Diana' (totally wrecked at Donna Nook, on the Lincolnshire coast, in the fearful gale of October 19th, 1869). During one of their return voyages from Greenland, in the late autumn, a Rook completely exhausted came on board his vessel in the North Sea, 220 miles from the nearest land, namely the north of Scotland. The bird was caught and well cared for, and after a few days set at liberty, but did not leave the vessel, remaining on board, hopping about the deck amongst the men, and roosting in the rigging at night. At Shetland, Captain Gravil sent the bird on shore, and sailed the same evening for Hull. The next morning, when more than 40 miles from Lerwick, and out of sight of land, the sailors were astonished at seeing their late comrade winging his way to the vessel, on which he presently alighted with a great cawing and every sign of satisfaction. He continued with them till the vessel arrived in Hull, when the poor bird was unfortunately killed, much to the regret of the crew, by some mischievous boys. I have met with several varieties during the last ten years in the spring of 1865 a cream-coloured Eook, the feet and bill white, eyes pink, shot in the Killingholme rookery, others also having more or less of the primaries white. A not uncommon variation shows a few white feathers in the throat. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 65 105. CORVUS MONEDULA, Linnseus. Jackdaw. Common, but rather local. Very numerous at Flamborough, where they nest in holes in the chalk cliffs, and are blamed, justly so, for plundering the nests of the sea- fowl. A very beautiful pied variety was seen in this parish for several weeks in the summer of 1869. In the winter roosts in company with Rooks in our large woodlands and plantations. 106. PICA CAUDATA, Fleming. Magpie. Very generally distributed, and common even in the Humber marshes'*, where they take advantage of the huge solitary hawthorn bushes on the drain banks for nesting. In the winter they congregate in considerable numbers to roost in some favourite plantation. 107. GARRULUS GLAND ARIUS (Linnseus) . Jay. Common in all the woods and plantations, where it breeds. More frequently observed, however, during the autumn and winter, when they wander about the country in bands, visiting all the small outlying plan- tations and spinneys even to the banks of the Hum- ber, situations where they are rarely seen in the * In those parts of the Lincolnshire fens and marshes where the old hedgerows have been lowered the Maggie has become comparatively scarce. 66 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. summer months. Has certainly increased in North Lincolnshire during the last ten years. 108. NUCIFRAGA CARYOCATACTES (Linnaeus) . Nut- cracker. I can find no notice, early or recent, of the capture of this rare species either in North Lincolnshire or Holderness. One, a male (having a narrow pointed beak), was shot at Christchurch, Hampshire, during the first week in November 1868. I had an oppor- tunity of examining the stomach of this bird, which was sent me by Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun. It con- tained the fragments of Coleoptera of several species and sizes, principally those of Aphodius contaminatus of Fabricius, a small portion of vegetable fibre, some white oats, and a few small stones. INSESSOEES SCANSOEES. FICIDM. 109. Picus VIRIDIS, Linnseus. Green Woodpecker. Provincial. Rain-bird, Yaffler. Sparsely distributed throughout the oldest- timbered part of the country. This beautiful and attractive bird is, I regret to say, becoming very rare. Their scarcity of late years is certainly not due to increased persecution, but is probably consequent on the destruction of many of their favourite haunts by the gradual felling of the older woodlands and hedgerow timber and their re- placement by trees of a younger growth. BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 67 I 110. Picus MAJOR, Linnaeus. Great Spotted Wood- pecker. Rare. Nests in the Brocklesby woods and plan- tations. More frequently met with in the autumn in North-east Lincolnshire and Holderness. In some years at this season they are not uncommon. 111. Picus MINOR, Linnaeus. Lesser Spotted Wood- pecker. Rare. Occurs in a few localities in the district, where it breeds. Is found in the Brocklesby woods ; also, as Mr. Adrian, of Lincoln, informs me, in the neighbourhood of Lincoln. He has had both the bird and eggs from Newbold Wood, also from Nocton Park, and birds in summer from Fillingham Park and Blankney, as well as other places. 112. Picus VILLOSUS, Linnaeus. Hairy Woodpecker. An American species. One obtained in the north of Yorkshire, near Whitby, early in 1849 (see ' Zoolo- gist' for that year, p. 2496). 113. YUNX TORQUILLA, Linnaeus. Wryneck. Extremely rare. I have not met with the Wryneck in North Lincolnshire*. One, a female, was caught in a garden at Flamborough on the 13th of May, * Colonel Montagu observed it near the coast of Lincolnshire, but believes it is rarely found, except where there are old and decayed pollard elin trees (Mont. Diet. British Birds, p. 395). 68 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 1865, and recorded by Mr. Boulton in the 'Zoologist' for 1866, p. 28 ; he further remarks that it is decidedly rare in East Yorkshire, and he has only met with four or five specimens during the last five years. IFSESSOBES SCANSORES. CERTHIADJB. 114. CERTHIA FAMILIARIS, Linnseus. Common Creeper. Provincial. Tree-creeper. This small but chastely marked species is a resident throughout the year, and by no means uncommon in the older woodlands and parks. 115. TROGLODYTES VULGARIS (Fleming). Common Wren. Provincial. Jenny Wren. Generally distributed throughout the year in every part of the district, except in the marshes along the coast, and common there only in the autumn I am strongly inclined to think that this familiar bird of our gardens, like the little Goldcrest, is migratory, and the number of our local birds greatly increased in the autumn by arrivals from the continent. Cer- tain it is that, we invariably find each year, early in October, for a few days only, considerable numbers along the east coast, in situations where we rarely see any at any other season on the " marram " -covered sandhills at Spurn and the Lincolnshire coast, about BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 69 the Humber embankment, amidst the reed-beds in the drains, and even in turnips. They remain only a short time, and, like those tiny wanderers the Gold- crests, are here one day and gone the next*. The little Wren often chooses odd places for its round and snug nest ; I once found one artfully concealed amidst the folds of a sheep-net which was tied up and suspended from a net-stake in one of our fields. 116. UPUPA EPOPS, Linnaeus. Hoopoe. Several of these rare migratory visitants have been from time to time shot on the east coast, both in the spring and autumn, particularly in the vicinity of Flamborough. Recent occurrences are : One shot in June 1861 in the Danes-dyke, Flam- borough (Zoologist, p. 9447). Another on the headland, about the middle of Sep- tember 1864 (Zoologist, p. 9361) . Another, a Lincolnshire specimen, in Holbeach fen in April 1869 (Zoologist, s.s. p. 1739). A fourth, a female, recorded by Mr. T. Boynton (Zoologist, 1871, p. 2641), shot at Sewerby near Bridlington on the 20th of April, 1871. * I have been told by persons living at Spurn that the Com- mon Wren appears annually there in some numbers early in October, usually preceding by a few days the Woodcocks and their little "pilots" the Goldcrests. 70 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 117. SITTA EUROP.EA, Leach. Nuthatch. Extremely rare in North Lincolnshire,, and equally so in Holderness. Mr. Boulton writes me that " four or five years since a nest with eggs was taken in the Burton Bushes, Westwood, Beverley. The species, however, is very scarce here." INSESSORES SCANSORES. CUCULIDM. 118. CUCULUS CANORUS, Linnaeus. Cuckoo. Provincial. Gowk (Swedish, Gok). This, the most familiar of our spring visitants, arrives about the third week in April ; the earliest arrival noted by me during the last ten years was on the 14th, the latest on the 30th of that month. Much depends on the nature of the season ; a cold back- ward spring with a prevalence of easterly winds always delays their appearance. A change in the direction of the wind about the second or third week in the month from N. or E. to S. or S.W. is certain to bring them northward. The Cuckoo leaves us again early in August ; the young later in the season, some even remaining quite up to the end of Septem- ber. The vicinity of low swampy plantations, and willow-beds or rank aquatic vegetation bordering streams with a sprinkling of alder bushes, are the favourite haunts of the Cuckoo. They are much more plentifully distributed during the summer in all our low -lying districts than on the "Wolds," and gene- rally in pairs, male and female together. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 71 V INSESSOEES FISSIKOSTBES. MEROPIDJE. 119. CORACIAS GARRULA, Linnaeus. Roller. A Lincolnshire specimen of this rare bird (as Mr. Edward Clayton the Louth bird-stuffer informs me) was captured in the parish of Keddington near Louth in the autumn of 1863, and subsequently came into the possession of Mr. Allis, of York, who has recorded the fact in the ' Zoologist' for 1865, p. 9418. Another was shot by a Mr. Marshall at Elsthorpe Grange, near Bourne, early in May 1871. 120. MEROPS APIASTER, Linnaeus. Bee-eater. Mr. Boulton had a beautiful specimen of this brilliant and rare visitant, which was shot some years since in Lincolnshire. INSESSOEES FISSIEOSTEES. HALCYONID&. 121. ALCEDO ISPIDA, Linnaeus. Kingfisher. This, the most brilliantly plumaged of any of our resident birds, is sparingly and rather locally dis- tributed throughout North Lincolnshire and Holder- ness, where it breeds. Is rarely seen in our marshes during the summer, but is often extremely plentiful in the autumn. There are each year in the summer very considerable arrivals of these beautiful wanderers in the east-coast marshes, probably continental birds. These arrive about the end of July or early in 7% BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. August, and become more and more common on our marsh- drains and water-courses up to the first week in September, when they appear to attain their maximum numbers. A very small proportion of these remain in these localities throughout the winter, the bulk departing with autumn storms and floods. According to the late Mr. Wheelwright*, the King- fisher has never been detected breeding in Scandi- navia, although occasionally seen in the southern provinces of Sweden, and is sparingly distributed throughout Denmark. Consequently, if our autumn birds are from the continent, they must come directly across from the coast of Holland to the eastern dis- tricts of Englandf. Kingfishers were more than usually abundant in the marshes in the autumns of 1863 and 1869; and during the former season great numbers were picked up dead in the Lincolnshire fens J. * ' Ten years in Sweden/ page 281. + Mr. Stevenson, in the 'Birds of Norfolk/ vol. i. p. 322, men- tions the circumstance of a Kingfisher having dashed against the Lemon floating light-ship, placed twenty miles at sea off Winterton on the Norfolk coast. J The poor little Kingfisher was, as now, a persecuted bird in times long gone by. From the Calendar of State Papers [Domestic series], July 14, 1613, we find : Grant made to one David Lewes, of Lincoln, of the office of Vermynter (Vermin- taker) in England to destroy "Foxes, Grayes, Fichenos, Pole- cats, Wissels, Stotes, Fares, Badgers, Wilde Cats, Otters, Hedgehogges, Rattes, Mice, Moldewarpe or Waute, or other BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 73 \ \ INSESSORES FISSSIROSTRES. HIRUNDINIDJ3. 122. HIRTJNDO RUSTICA, Linnaeus. Swallow. The ever welcome Swallow, most anxiously looked for of any of our summer migrants, is generally first seen about the 14th of April varying about a week, according to the earliness or backwardness of the season and the consequent abundance or scarcity of insects. The earliest arrival noted by me was on the 9th of April*, the latest on the 22nd. Arrive gradually: first we see a pair hawking over a sheltered pond or stream ; then a day or two later, perhaps, half a dozen may be found in these places, the main body not arriving till fully ten days after these Uhlans. Both the old and young birds congregate in large flocks in the autumn, preparatory to their departure, which migration occurs about the end of September, some stragglers, mostly birds of the last brood, remain- ing in sheltered situations up to the middle of October, and occasionally even to the last week in that monthf. noysome vermine, destroyers of cornes ;" also " Crowes, Choughs or Rookes, Mertons, Furskites, Molekites, Bussardes, Sca.gges, Cormorantes, Ringtails, Irenes or Ospreys, Pies, Woodwales, Jayes, Ravens or Kightes, Kingefahers, Bulfinches, and other ravenous birds dewourers of corn." * On the 1st of April, 1872, I saw a single Swallow in the / Great-Cotes marshes, but no more till the J 2th, when I saw four together. t On the 14th, 15th, and 16th of November 1866 a single bird, as the Rev. M. G. Watkins informs me, hawked for several hours each day round the Rectory house at Barnoldl^-le-Beck. 74 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. In the marshes they breed in some numbers, attach- ing their nests to the underside of the arch of the drain-bridges and outfall cloughs. I have frequently seen Swallows hawking for insects in the North Sea, many miles from the nearest land. 123. HIRUNDO URBICA, Linnaeus. House-Martin. Not nearly as numerous as the preceding, and, I am sorry to say, undoubtedly much less common than formerly. Fifteen years since, scores nested each year about the farm-buildings in this parish, where not half a dozen pairs can now be found*. Arrives on the average about ten days later than the Swallow, namely the last week in April, and in cold backward springs delaying its coming till the first or second week in May. Leaves about the same time as the Chimney-Swallow. I have found considerable numbers of their nests attached to the underside of the projecting shelves of the Flamborough cliffs over- hanging the sea. 124. HIRUNDO RIPARIA, Linnaeus. Sand-Martin. Provincial. Sand-Swallow. The average arrival of the Sand-Martin in this parish for the last ten years has been the 21st of April, a week later than the Chimney Swallow. Is generally distributed and very abundant during the * The House-Martin became suddenly plentiful again in this parish in the spring and summer of 1872, which was a great insect year. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 75 summer months along the Yorkshire coast and at Flamborough, where there are some large colonies in the sea cliffs. Congregates in August, leaving about a fortnight earlier than either of the preceding. 125. CYPSELUS APUS (Linnaeus). Common Swift. Provincial. Devilling. Forty or fifty years since, as old inhabitants in the district have told me, nearly every village church in our marshes had its attendant troop of Swifts ; but this has long ceased to be the case, and they are now very local in their haunts. Plentiful in the marshes near Grimsby, where scores may be seen hawking through the long summer days from early dawn to late into the night *. There has been a decided increase of this species with us during the last ten years, although their decrease has been remarked upon in other places f. A small colony have recently established themselves in the fine old tower of our * It is astonishing the space passed over in a summer day by the Swift. I have seen them on the wing at 4 o'clock, and as late as 9 in the evening seventeen hours of probably almost uninterrupted movement ; and calculating the flight of the Swift at the average rate of eighty miles an hour, this gives the amazing distance of 13GO miles in a single day. Mr. Macgillivray, in his 'British Birds,' vol. iii. page 622, re- marks, " the Swift comes abroad as early as half-past two j and I have seen it flying as late as half-past nine." t See Mr. Boul ton's remarks, in the 'Zoologist' for 1864, on the gradual decrease of the Swifts in the neighbourhood of Beverley. E2 76 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. parish church. Their average time of arrival is the 7th of May; they leave again about the 20th of August, young birds being occasionally seen up to the middle of September*. INSESSOEES FISSIEOSTRES. CAPEIMULGIDJE. 126. CAPRIMULGUS EUROP^EUS, Linnaeus. Nightjar. A summer visitant, but very locally distributed and nowhere common. Very rare in the coast dis- tricts of North-east Lincolnshire. Mr. Alington has occasionally met with them in the parish of Swinhope on our North Wolds. One was shot from turnips, before a party of shooters, in the adjoining parish to this, on October 3rd, 1871. Another, I find from my note-book, was killed on the Great-Cotes "fitties" by a Grimsby gunner in the last week of November 1864 f. SASOEES. COLUMBID&. 127. COLUMBA PALUMBUS, Linnaeus. Ring-Dove . Provincial Wood-Pigeon, Quest. Is much more numerous than formerly, having greatly increased during the last ten years. Collects in immense flocks in the autumn, and in sharp weather resorts to the cabbage- and turnip-fields to feed on the leaves of these plants. In severe winters with much frost and snow, the ranks of our local birds * In 1869, Sept. 18th ; in 1870, Sept. 14th (Great Cotes). t I found a pair, male and female, in a plantation near the Aylesby Beck on the 27th of May, 1872. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 77 probably receive considerable accessions, either from the north or the continent, as I have observed they are invariably, at least in this neighbourhood, much more numerous in a severe than in an open winter. Wood-Pigeons are remarkably partial to salt, and will daily during the summer quarter resort to those drains in the marsh to which the tide has access, to drink the salt water *. Varieties occasionally occur. The Wood-Pigeon is both an early and late breeder ; I have found young unfledged birds in the nests as late as the second week in October. 128. COLUMBA CENAS, Linnaeus. Stock-Dove. Provincial. Sand-Dove. Found only in the neighbourhood of our oldest woodlands and parks, and nowhere very plentiful. Is not uncommon in the north-west corner of this county, bordering the Trent, where they nest both in the deserted rabbit-burrows, in the warrens, and in holes of trees and tops of pollards in the woods. Small flocks sometimes visit the marsh stubbles in the winter and spring. From their extreme wildness and shyness, they are practically unapproachable. Mr. Boulton (Zoologist, p. 9594) says, "This British Dove rarely visits the neighbourhood of Beverley. * Mr. Harry Blake-Knox, in Ms notes from the county Dub- lin (Zoologist, s. s. p. 1401) , says that " both in spring and autumn * Wood-quests' come from inland in the early morning to feed upon the sea-rocks left bare by the tide, and here feed upon seaweed and copiously drink the salt water from the rock-pools." 78 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Is occasionally seen in the low grounds in the carrs in the winter and spring." 129. COLUMBA LIVIA, Temminck. Rock-Dove. Provincial. Sea-Dove, Rock-Pigeon. Breeds in considerable numbers in the numerous sea-caves at the base of the magnificent cliffs of Flam- borough. Their great power of flight gives them unusual facilities for daily traversing great distances to and from their haunts ; and in severe winters flocks come far inland in search of food, even crossing the Humber into the Lincolnshire marshes. Mr. Boul- ton, remarking on this species in the East Riding*, says . " In the ( carrs ' flocks of the Rock-Dove may frequently be seen, at times feeding along with wanderers from the neighbouring Cotes, and, I am informed, occasionally returning with the domestic birds to their more genial abodes. A cross be- tween the wild Rock-Dove and common Domestic Pigeon is often met with as the consequence of this intermingling of the races. These birds are fertile inter se, are smaller than the domestic birds, are very hardy, and are endowed with wonderful powers of flight" t- * Zoologist for 1865, p. 9595. t According to Mr. Wheelwright, " extremely rare in Scan- dinavia, and only known to breed at one place (Stavange) off the south coast of Norway, where they remain throughout the year. Not known in either Denmark or Finland " (Ten Years in Sweden, p. 348). BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 79 V 130. COLUMBA TURTUR, Linnaeus. Turtle Dove. A spring visitant, and can only be considered a rare and occasional wanderer into North Lincolnshire. I have no notice of its breeding with us, although Mr. Adrian, of Lincoln, informs me that it nests every year in the neighbourhood of that city ; he has received them in the nesting-season from Ashby, Carlton, Colby, Waddington, and other places. In East Yorkshire it is equally scarce. On October 2nd, 1863, a mature female was shot at Catwick, and came into the possession of Mr. Boulton (Zoologist, p. 8887) ; on the 18th of November, 1865, an immature male at Cliff near Beverley (Zoologist, s.s. p. 96) ; and on June llth, 1867, Mr. ' Richardson, of Beverley, re- ceived a female shot at Leven near that town (Zoolo- gist, s.s. p. 543). RASOEES. PHASIANID&. 131. PHASIANUS COLCHICUS, Linnseus. Pheasant. The pure old breed untainted by any cross is now seldom met with, excepting in a few localities furthest removed from the great centres of game-preserving. With these few exceptions our resident birds are a mixed race, exhibiting in a greater or less degree the cross between the old English bird and the Ring- neck (P. torquatus). Pheasants are capable of a long sustained flight ; I have met with several instances of their crossing 80 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. the Humber (here four miles wide) from Yorkshire, and alighting in our marshes. XASORES. TETRAONIDJE. 132. TETRAO TETRIX, Linnaeus. Black Grouse. Not indigenous ; was introduced some years since in the wild uncultivated district near Frodingham, on the Trent side ; and I have seen an old cock bird that was shot in that neighbourhood. Towards the close of the shooting-season of 1871-72, the Rev. H. G. Southwell shot a grey hen in the parish of Nettleton, near Caistor. 133. SYRRHAPTES PARADOXUS (Pallas). P alias's Sand-Grouse. In the second week in May 1863 a single bird of this species was picked up dead by the keeper of W. H. Daubney, Esq., in a potatoe-plat in the parish of Little Cotes, near Grimsby. This bird is now, I believe, in the possession of H. Thorold, Esq., of Cuxwold Hall. Late in the autumn of the same year (as nearly as I can ascertain, early in December) a flock numbering between forty and fifty was seen in the parish of Saltfleetby, on the Lincolnshire coast ; about twenty of these were shot, the greater part by a wild-fowl- shooter named Larder. Mr. Clayton, of Louth, in- forms me that seven or eight of these passed through his hands for preservation ; others were sent up from BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 81 the marsh by the carriers to Louth for sale, but, their rarity and value not having been recognized, were either eaten or destroyed. Professor Newton says (Ibis, vol. vi. p. 205) that a male and female were shot on the 25th of May at Leake, in South Lincolnshire, out of a flock of thirteen. The only three specimens taken in Holderness, besides another shot at Hu^manby near Filey, were obtained by Mr. Boulton for his collection. On the 19th of June, 1863, five were shot from a flock of nineteen near Scarborough. 134. PERDIX RUFA, Latham. Red-legged Partridge. The Red-legged Partridge is fortunately only an occasional wanderer into North Lincolnshire*. I have seen birds that were shot in the neighbourhood of Ashby, near the river Trent. 135. PERDIX PETROSA, Gmelin. Barbary Partridge. A fine specimen of this African species was shot near Beverley about three years since. Mr. Boulton saw and examined it in the flesh. 136. PERDIX CINEREA, Latham. Common Partridge. Generally distributed. A covey or two are annually * In Norfolk, now that u driving " is the generally adopted system of shooting, the "Red-legs " show the best sport. E5 82 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. hatched amongst the " marram "-covered sand-hills at Spurn, where they may be found throughout the year. In the country bordering the Humber, where there is a great preponderance of grass land over arable, the Partridge seldom obtains grain, their food in these districts during a great part of the year consisting of insects and their larvae. In severe winter weather they subsist almost exclusively on the young blades of grasses ; and their flesh, particularly towards the end of the season, acquires a most pecu- liar grassy and unpleasant flavour. 137. COTURNIX VULGARIS, Fleming. Common Quail. From what our oldest sportsmen have told me, I gather that the Quail was by no means uncommon in Lincolnshire half a century since. Since this period the drainage and improved cultivation of the marshes and fens, as well as the enclosure and high farming of the c ' Wolds," has so entirely changed the character of the district and broken up and destroyed their old haunts, that of late years they have been observed only as rare and occasional visitants. It has occasionally been shot in East Yorkshire. On the 24th of July, 1870, Mr. Boyes found a nest of the Quail near Beverley, containing eleven eggs, on the side of a railway embankment amongst grass &c. The nest was a slight hollow containing a few dead grasses, and the eggs laid slovenly, some on the top BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 83 of the others (see Zoologist, 1870, p. 2307) . Mr. Alington some years since fell in with a large bevy in the parish of Thoresway, on our Wolds. Plentiful in North Lincolnshire in the autumn after the hot dry summer of 1870, the year of the great Franco-Prussian war in one instance three brace having been killed in one day to a single gun, and eight brace falling during the same season to another sportsman on a farm near Caistor, on which land two or three large bevies occurred, doubtless bred there, as several eggs had been taken in the same locality during the summer. 138. ORTYX VIRGINIANUS (Linnaeus). Virginian Quail. Mr. Boulton had a fine male in his collection, shot a few years since at Cottingham, near Beverley. BASOEES. STRUTHIONID&. 139. OTIS TARDA, Linnaeus. Great Bustard. Formerly inhabiting alike the desolate wolds of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, this magnificent spe- cies has passed away, leaving in this county scarcely a tradition of its presence. It probably became ex- tinct as a resident in Lincolnshire about the com- mencement of the present century, at which period the " Wolds " were enclosed and brought into culti- 84 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. vation*. In Yorkshire it disappeared some years later, about 1815-j-. On Friday, Nov. llth, 1864, a dead Bustard J was found floating in Bridlington Bay by a man named Welbourn, who stated that it was still quite warm at the time he picked it up. The fresh skin was for- warded the next morning to Mr. Boulton ; and shortly afterwards the carcass arrived, unfortunately disem- bowelled and trussed ready for the spit. Judging from the comparative weight of this bird (13 Ibs.) and the * Mr. Yarrell (British Birds, vol. ii. p. 420, 2nd ed. 1845) says : " In Lincolnshire, I find from Sir Charles Anderson that a pair of Bustards bred a few years since on his father's farm at Hawold; and a single Bustard was seen a few winters ago, and was considered to be a stray bird from the Yorkshire Wolds." t Mr. Morris, in his ' British Birds,' vol. iv. p. 3, speaking of the Great Bustard, says " that Henry Woodall, Esq., of North Dalton, has informed him 'that in the year 1816 or 1817 Henry Dowker, Esq., of that place, killed two near there with a right and left shot, and saw a third at the same time ; an egg was also found, which is now in the Scarborough Museum ; one of the birds shot was presented to His Majesty King George the Third, through the late Dr. Blomberg ; eight were seen to- gether in one field about the same date.' E. H. Hebden, Esq., of Scarborough, also informed him ' of his having seen five Bustards on Flixton Wold about the year 1811, and they remained there at least two years, when two of them were shot ; the other three still continued there for another year or more, when two of them disappeared, leaving the solitary bird, which after a length of time v/as shot near Hummanby by the gamekeeper of Sir William Strickland, and found a few days afterwards by the huntsman of the Scarborough Harriers.' " I For a full account of this bird, see the ' Zoologist ' for 1865, p. 9442. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 85 plumage, Mr. Boulton has little doubt that it was a female of the second or third year. Another, men- tioned by Mr. Stevenson in a footnote, page 30, vol. ii. ' Birds of Norfolk/ was seen in April 1866 near Halton Holgate, Spilsby, Lincolnshire, and a pair at Candlesby, in the same neighbourhood, a few years before. There was an extraordinary immigration of Bus- tards into the southern counties of England in the winter of 1870-71 *, when specimens were killed in Middlesex, Somersetshire, Wiltshire, and Devon- shire; also one on the coast of Northumberland, about ten miles from Berwick-on-Tweed. 140. OTIS TETRAX, Linnaeus. Little Bustard. Mr. Boulton writes met that a splendid mature female, which he examined in the flesh, was shot by W. Hudson, gamekeeper, on the last day of January 1862, in the parish of Leven. It is now in the pos- session of Mrs. W. Wray of that place. Mr. Adrian, of Lincoln, had a little Bustard, shot on the 21st of December, 1866, at South Clifton, Nottinghamshire, just beyond the Lincolnshire bor- der, by a Mr. Abraham. He informs me that he sold this bird to F. Brooke, Esq., of Brauncewell, near Sleaford. The stomach (sent me by Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun.) * Zoologist, s. s. 1871, pp. 2472, 2510. t See also ' Zoologist ' for 1862, p. 7938. 86 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. of a continental specimen was much distended with food, containing a mass of leaves, many nearly entire, of one of the hawk-weeds, or some closely allied spe- cies, a Cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris), and ten or twelve smaller beetles (Otiorhynchus notatus) } some entire, others rather broken. 141. OTIS MACQUEENI, Gray. Macqueen's Bustard A native of Persia and Western India. A Lincoln- shire-killed bird, and the only British specimen, was shot in a stubble-field on Kirton Cliff, Kirton-in- Lindsey, by Mr. G. Hanley on the 7th of October, 1847. It was identified by Mr. Gould, and is now in the York Museum. GRALLATORES. CHARADRI1D&. 142. CURSORIUS EUROP^EUS, Latham. Cream- coloured Courser. I am aware of no recent occurrence of this rare African wanderer, although its capture has been re- corded in Yorkshire during the present century* Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., kindly forwarded for my examination the stomach of the Lanarkshire bird, shot on the 7th of October, 1868, and the first recorded specimen of this species killed in Scotland. I find, on reference to my note-book, that it contained ex- clusively the remains of Coleopterous insects. * Yarrell's < British Birds/ vol. ii. 2ud ed., p. 433. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 87 One is recorded in the < Zoologist' for 1871 (p. 2562) as killed on the ' ' seashore at Goswick, parish of Holy Island/' coast of Northumberland, in the first week in November 1870. 143. (EDICNEMUS CREPITANS, Temminck. Stone Curlew. Provincial. Thick-knee. Abundant before the enclosure of the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire wolds and heaths, but now restricted to a few favourable localities. Is still found in some numbers on the extensive sandy warrens and com- mons near Frodingham, in the Trent district, where I am told that from twenty to thirty may still be seen in the course of a day. A few years ago, however, they were much more abundant. It breeds every season in that locality. In East Yorkshire a few nest annually on Spalding Moor, near Holme, Beverley also on Tollington Moor, near Market-Weighton ; but Mr. Boulton says it is becoming quite rare on the Yorkshire Wolds, where formerly it was abundant*. Mr. Yarrell (British Birds, vol. ii. 2nd ed., p. 438), on the autho- rity of Mr. Williamson, says, "in the vicinity of Scarborough they breed on the fallows, and often startle the midnight traveller by their shrill and ominous whistle." * See < Zoologist' for 1864, p. 9282. 88 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 144. GLAREOLA TORQUATA, Meyer. Collared Pratincole. No recent occurrence. Mr. Yarrell has recorded the capture of one at Branston Hall, near Lincoln, on the 15th of August, 1827*; and Sir. W. Milner, in the ' Zoologist' for 1848 (p. 2023), says that one was killed from a flock of Dotterel on Staxten Wold, near Scarborough, in May 1844. 145. CHARADRIUS PLTJVIALIS, Linnseus. Golden Plover. Very numerous in the winter in the North Lincoln and Holderness marshes, but varying greatly in num- bers according to the season. Were extremely abundant in the wet winters of 1865-66, 1866-67, 1868-69 and equally scarce in the severe seasons of 1869-70, 1870-71, when they probably went further south. In the autumn, the Golden Plover arrives from the last week in October to the first week in November, although a few small " trips " may be found in the marshes early in October, and occasio- nally in September. The earliest I have ever seen was a single bird, having the black breast of summer, on the 3rd of August f. Golden Plovers generally resort during the daytime to the pasture-lands or young wheat ; at dark they leave the marshes, along * British Birds, 2nd edition, vol. ii. p. 444. t In 1871. Three in full summer plumage on the 6th of August in company with some Peewits. BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 89 with the Lapwings, for the higher lands and " Wolds/' feeding in the partly cleared turnip- walks. They very rarely, and only then in very dry autumns, resort to the muds ; and I have never seen them on the Humber flats after the marshes have become saturated with wet. In mild and open winters they will remain with us throughout the season, often in enormous flocks, but in severe seasons, with long-continued frost and snow, leave the district altogether, return- ing only on the break-up of the storm. These local migrations of the Golden Plover are very remarkable. I have frequently noticed a day or two previous to hard weather immense flocks crossing the Humber, often for hours together, all going southward. They are followed after the first frost by our local birds. On the occurrence of a thaw, as soon as the lowlands have become even partially clear, their familiar call may again be heard. Besides these local migrations, dependent on the weather, there are similar move- ments due to other causes, the chief of which is pro- bably a permanent change of feeding-ground. On the 22nd of November, 1866, from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M., likewise on the llth of the same month, 1869, from early morning till late in the afternoon, flocks of Golden Plovers and Lapwings, flying from S. to N., passed over this parish ; often two or three flocks were in sight at one time, and it was seldom that there was five minutes' interval between them*. * See 'Zoologist' for 1867, p. 590; also for 1870 p. 1978. 90 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. The spring migration northward takes place in March, rarely later than the end of that month. In the cold spring of 1870, large flocks wearing the nuptial dress frequented the marshes to the middle of the first week in April. The latest occasions I have noted them in this district were : in 1865, on the 18th of April a pair ; on the 25th of that month in 1870, a single bird ; and on May 10th, 1862, likewise a single bird. In the cold spring of 1871 some small "trips " re- mained up to the last week in April ; and in the same season I noticed seven birds near the embankment on the 2nd of May*. Golden Plovers assume the summer dress very early in the season ; we occasionally find birds with the black breast greatly developed by the second week in February ; and from this date up to the time of their departure, specimens in every state of plumage, * It must be borne in mind that it is always difficult to fix the exact time of departure of our shore birds, and almost im- possible for one observer to do so along an extensive seaboard, as they may have altogether disappeared at one part of the coast and not in another. In every case in this notice, I have given the average period when the main body of each species leaves us in this locality, based on almost daily observation, taken during many years at the time of the spring migrations. A few specimens, however, of nearly all our common shore birds may generally be found on some part or other of our coast after the dates I have given for the departure of the main body. In some cases birds remain all through the summer, some of which, doubtless from having been wounded in the winter, are prevented from accomplishing the migratory flight. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 91 from the fully mature bird to others in the winter dress, may be found in each flock. A peculiarity of this species, shared also by the Lapwing, is their extreme restlessnes before wind and rain, when for hours together they will often continue flying to and fro over the marshes. 146. CHARADRIUS MORINELLUS, Linnaeus. Dotterel. Provincial. Spring-Dotterel. An occasional spring and autumn visitant, arriving in certain favourite localities on the North Wolds about the third or fourth week in April, and in the Humber marshes during the first week in May*, where they continue till about the third week, and then finally depart northward. They are extremely partial to those pastures which are most closely grazed with sheep ; and I do not recollect ever seeing them in our best feeding-marshes, which, being " laid in " during the winter, as a rule, are full of grass f. Twenty or thirty years since, as I am informed by one of the oldest of our local gunners, the Dotterel was of common and yearly occurrence in the North * Have only once observed it before this date namely, on the 15th of April, 1867, a single bird. t Mr. J. Edmund Harting informs me that, in the stomach of a Dotterel shot in the Cotes marshes in the spring of 1869, he found remains of Coleoptera, larvae of Coleoptera, wings of Diptera, larvae of Lepidoptera (the moth Polyodon), and small particles of grit. In the stomach of another bird examined at the same time were no less than sixty-three wireworms and two small beetles. 92 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Lincoln marshes, but now it can be considered only a rare and occasional visitor. Was unusually numerous in the spring of 1866, when several large " trips " visited us; since that period I have generally met with a few each year*. On their return southward in the autumn we never meet with them in flocks, but either singly or in pairs. The female is rather larger and more bril- liantly coloured than the male. 147. CHARADRIUS HIATICULA, Linnaeus. Ringed Plover. Provincial. Black-head, Stonerunner. A resident throughout the year; nests at Spurn in company with the lesser Terns also on the Lin- colnshire coast, but not nearly in such numbers as was formerly the case. Large flocks of this pretty and lively species visit the Humber marshes with very great regularity each year during the first week in August, arriving almost to a day from the 3rd to the 5th of that month, and very rarely, and then only in small "trips/' before this period f. They now resort daily to the pastures, and more commonly to the fallow land, where, in company with Dunlins, they will sit with their breasts turned to the wind for * The largest " trip " of Dotterel I have ever seen in these marshes numbered twenty birds. t The earliest I have observed them in large flocks was on the 31st of July, 1869. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 93 1 hours together, either sleeping or preening their fea- thers. The greater part of these migratory flocks leave before the winter, generally during the first fortnight in October. Those that remain now resort occasionally to the mud flats ; but their chief haunts and feeding-grounds are those fields where the turnips have been recently fed off, giving the preference to the wettest land. In the spring, early in March, they again visit the district, but not nearly in such large numbers as during the autumn migration. At this season they rarely, except at high water, leave the coast, but feed in company with Dunlins on the muds, finally leaving for the north early in April, and in forward seasons in March. 148. CHARADRIUS CANTIANUS (Latham). Kentish Plover. A male of this rare species was shot on the 25th of May, and a female on the 28th of the same month, in 1869, on the Yorkshire coast near Bridlington, by T. Boynton, Esq., of Ulrome Grange. 149. SQUATAROLA CINEREA (Fleming). Grey Plover. Provincial. Sand-Plover. A regular spring and autumn visitant on their passage to and from their northern breeding-stations. In the former season they arrive on the " flats" in con- siderable flocks during the first week in May, leaving 94 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. again towards the end of that month*. At this time they are, with some exceptions, in the beautiful pied summer dress. The flocks on their first arrival in the spring show specimens in every stage of plumage ; the change, however, after this time appears to be rapid, as by the third week in May broken-plumaged birds are the exception. There are always a few, however, which at the time of their leaving show scarcely any change from the well-known and sober winter plumage. The return southward in the autumn is commenced in August first a few old birds in the summer dress, and later the young of the year with a sprinkling of old birds. Are now less gregarious, and found scattered over the flats singly, in pairs, or two or three together. From their tameness at this season, many fall victims to the local gunners. Later they congregate more, and become very wild and wary. The flocks at this time occasionally resort to the neighbouring marshes, feeding, like the Golden Plover, both on the grass and ploughed lands, but may readily be distinguished from these birds by their comparatively much lighter colour and the glimpse we get of the black axillary plume when they elevate their wings. Some remain on the coast throughout the winter, after the bulk have retired southward. Independently of their specific distinctions, the Grey * I have occasionally known large flocks on the flats as late as the end of the last week in May, and odd birds at Spurn in June. BIRDS OF THE HUMBEE DISTRICT. 95 Plover differs from the Golden Plover in the follow- ing respects. They leave the district, on the average, seven to eight weeks later in the spring than their congeners, and return fully two months earlier. They are much later in assuming the summer plumage, and retain it longer in the autumn than does the Golden Plover. They are strictly a marine bird, their favourite haunts being the sea-coast and the muddy shores of large tidal rivers, their presence inland being quite exceptional. With the Golden Plover the reverse is the case ; we rarely, and then only very early in the season, when the land is dry and hard, see them on the flats. On the wing, when in small parties, they fly in line one behind the other, in larger flocks " all in a lump." The Golden Plover, as a rule, advance in long extended lines, often using the arrow-head for- mation. 150. VANELLTJS CRISTATUS, Meyer. Lapwing. Provincial. Peewit, Pyewipe, Green Plover. Resident throughout the year, and extremely nu- merous; nests annually in our marshes; and the number of our resident birds has certainly increased largely during the last ten years *. The Lapwing is eminently gregarious, only break - * In the 'Zoologist' for 1864, p. 9092, Dr. Saxby writes that some thirty, years ago Lapwings were very uncommon in Unst, and also in other parts of Shetland ; now, however, there are whole colonies of them in various parts. 96 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. ing up into pairs during a few weeks in the nesting- season ; and even at this period, on being disturbed, the various pairs in the marsh will often unite till the danger is past. In wet winters enormous migratory flocks visit our marshes, feeding and roosting by day on the arable and pasture land. In the evening, just at dusk, they resort with great regularity to those fields on the higher lands of the middle marsh and on the Wolds where the turnips have been fed-off, or to the young wheats, returning again to the marshes at daybreak. They nest early ; and we find eggs by the last week in March. In this district, however, a large proportion of the first eggs are destroyed by the various processes of agriculture. From the many pairs which nest annually in these marshes, from one cause or other very few young birds are reared*. There are undoubtedly immense arrivals of Lap- wings in the autumn, coming either from more northern counties or the continent. In support of the latter view, I may state that when on the coast at this season I have seen large flocks passing inland from the sea, usually flying at a great height. The autumn flocks visiting our marshes are enormously in excess of our resident birds. * I find our deep marsh-drains, into which they seem to have a particular facility for tumbling, are a very fertile source of destruction to the young broods. I have often in the summer months rescued whole families of the little creatures from these pitfalls. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 97 This species is much more sensitive of cold than the Golden Plover ; before severe weather they always depart some days in advance, and on the return of fine weather they do not appear till some days after them. 151. STREPSILAS INTERPRES (Linnaeus). Turnstone. Visit the Lincolnshire coast during the spring and autumn migrations, arriving in August in small parties about the same time as the Kinged Plover. I have found them in our marshes at this season associating with Ringed Plover and Dunlin on the summer-eaten clover- fields, where they feed on various species of coleopterous insects, obtained in their characteristic manner by jerking over the dried and clover- grown fragments of sheep-dung, beneath which various small beetles find shelter. The Turnstone, visiting us in the autumn, proceeds further south as bad weather ap- proaches, a few remaining throughout the winter on the immense sandy flats of the Lincolnshire coast. I have obtained it at Spurn in the autumn*. It is not common, however, along the Yorkshire sea-board at any season. Mr. T. Boynton, of Ulrome Grange, near Bridlington, tells me that it is quite a rarity with them, and, although he spends a great deal of time on the sea-coast, he has never shot one. Are less numerous on their return northward. The spring migration takes place in May ; and they * In the month of August 1872 young birds of this species were especially numerous in this locality. P 98 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. may be found on our shores up to the end of that month, and occasionally even in June. 152. CALIDRIS ARENARIA (Linnaeus). Sanderling. Provincial. Sand-runner. Like the preceding, appears in the autumn in small family parties on our flat sandy coasts. They do not appear to congregate in large bodies like the Dunlin, as we invariably find them either in pairs, or from two and three to seven and eight together, and very rarely at any time in flocks exceeding twenty or thirty birds *. The Sanderling arrives in August, and occasionally as early as the last week in July f. They may generally be found in greater or less numbers on the coast during the winter and throughout the following spring, departing finally for their distant breeding-stations in the far north, wherever these may be, towards the end of May J ; and as the old birds, accompanied by their young, are back with us in August, it leaves but a short time for the duties of incubation and the growth of the young . Sanderlings seldom go any * Mr. Boynton, speaking of the Bridlington coast, says, u we had the greatest numbers here in February 1870 1 ever remember ; they were in flocks from twenty to fifty." t On the 25th of July, 1864, 1 saw a small flock of six on the Yorkshire coast between Bridlington Quay and Flamborough. J The latest period Mr. Boynton has observed them on the Yorkshire coast was on the 30th of that month in 1869, when he shot a male in summer plumage. It is rather remarkable that the Knot, Sanderling, and Grey Plover, species which nest further up within the Arctic Circle BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 99 distance from the coast, and are very rarely found within the Humber. I have sometimes, however, seen them in the autumn associated with other small species on the fallows and summer- eaten clover-fields adjoin- ing the river. 153. HJEMATOPUS OSTRALEGUS (Linnaeus). Oyster- catcher. Provincial. Sea-Pie, Sea- Woodcock. Is numerous on' the flat coasts of this county, where, up to quite recently, great numbers bred. Owing, however, to the systematic plundering of the eggs during the nesting-season, it has ceased to do so in this neighbourhood, and is at present restricted as a breeder to a few of the wildest localities on our coast, and in greatly reduced numbers'*. Is yet extremely numerous in the spring, autumn, than any of our numerous shore birds, are the last of the migra- tory Limicolae which leave our shores, and amongst the first to return with the young broods in the autumn. * Colonel Montagu, in his 'Dictionary of British Birds' (Newman's edition), p. 226, writing of the Oyster-catcher, re- marks that " this species appears to be more abundant on some parts of the sandy flat coast of Lincolnshire than on any other part we recollect to have noticed ; and we were surprised to ob- serve a very large flock of these birds assembled together in the midst of the breeding-season. Upon inquiry we found that at the time of incubation a remarkably high tide had swept away all their eggs, together with those of the Ringed Plover and Lesser Tern, which usually lay their eggs a little above high- water mark. On the coast near Skegness, at a point called 100 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. and winter, both on the coasts of Lincolnshire and Holderness. Like the Sanderling and Turnstone is very rarely seen within the Humber, the deep muddy flats of our foreshores being unsuited to their habits. I have seen them in large flocks on our Lincolnshire coast and at Flamborough in July. &EALLATOEES. GRUID&. 154. GRUS CINEREA, Bechstein. Crane. In the 'Zoologist' for 1869 (p. 1842) Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., has recorded several occurrences of this rare visitor in England during that spring one of these, a young male now in his collection, killed on Hykeham Moor, near Lincoln, by Mr. Shuttle- worth on the 20th of July*. Gibraltar, there is an isolated part of a marsh where oyster- catchers breed in such abundance that a fisherman informed us he had taken a bushel of eggs in a morning." * Ray informs us that this species occurred in his time (1628) in large flocks during the winter in Lincolnshire and Cambridge- shire. We may judge of its former abundance by the fact of 204 having been provided for the celebrated Neville banquet in the reign of Edward IV. From a note to Thompson's ' History of Boston/ p. 675, it appears that by the Fen laws, passed at the "court view of free pledges, and court-leet of the East, West, and North Fens, with their members, held at Revesby 19th of October, 1780," it was decreed that " no person shall bring up or take any Swan's eggs, or Crane's eggs, or young birds of that kind, on pain of forfeiting for every offence 3 shillings and four-pence." This edict looks very much like shutting the stable-door after the horse was stolen. It appears somewhat singular, after the evidence of BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 101 GRALLATORES. ARDEIDA. 155. ARDEA CINEREA, Linnaeus. Common Heron. Provincial. Heron-sue, Heron-shawe. Not uncommon in our Lincolnshire marshes, but much more numerous in the autumn, when they appear in small family parties in the marshes, either fishing in the drains or on the Humber flats, follow- ing the receding tide to feed on various crustaceans and small fish left in the pools of salt water. They remain all through the winter in the marshes, leaving again in February for their breeding-stations. A few old birds coming from great distances daily, or rather nightly, visit our drains and streams during the sum- mer months. In two papers in the ' Field' newspaper for Febru- ary 17th and March 9th, 1872, Mr. J. E. Harting gives a list, as far as he can ascertain, of the Heronries existing at the present time in Great Britain. In Lincolnshire he enumerates: "Two near Spalding, one at Donington, one in Skellingthorpe Wood near Lincoln, and one at Swanpool; one at old Cressy Hall*, of which Pennant has given a descrip- tion. In addition to these, there were formerly one at Manby, near Brigg, belonging to Lord Yarborough, Willughby and the antiquarian Gough, that Cranes should have nested in the Fens so late as the end of the 18th century, just previous to the drainage and enclosure of the West Fen. * u The Heronries at Spalding, Donington, and Cressy Hall are now extinct." 102 BIRDS OF THE HTJMBER DISTRICT. but since destroyed by the felling of the trees ; one also at Leake, near Boston (Thompson's ' History of Boston/ p. 676), and one in Muckton Wood, near Louth. It is possible that this last named may still exist ; for on one day during the past autumn several Herons were seen flying backwards and forwards over the wood, as if reconnoitring the old site, with a view to reoccupation." One also at Haverholme Priory, near Sleaford (Hon. M. Finch-Hatton) . Also a single nest on a tree in Nocton Park, near Lincoln, the seat of the Marquis of Ripon. In Yorkshire : " One near Boroughbridge (Mr. R. Thompson) ; Walton Hall, upon oak trees (Mr. Waterton) ; Hutton Cranswick, near Beverley (Mr. Bethel) ; and formerly others at Stork Hill (hence the misnomer for the locality) and Scorborough near Beverley ; Swanland Hall near Hull ; and Wea- therby Grange (Mr. Gunter) ; also Eshton Hall (Mr. Wilson), where they nest in larch trees." We should in these days, after eating Partridge, Pheasant or Woodcock, take unkindly to the tough and bitter "Heron-sews." The old price for this bird was twelve pence. At the wedding dinner of Gervase Clifton and Mary Neville, A.D. 1530, the following birds and their prices occur: 12 Swans, each 6s.; 8 Cranes, each 3s. 4>d. ; 16 Heron-sews, each I2d. ; 10 Butters or Bitterns, each 14id. At the same din- ner an ox was 30s., a calf 3s., a lamb Is. 6d. 3 a wether 2s. 4d., and chickens Is. 6d. per dozen. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 103 156. ARDEA PURPTJREA, Linnaeus. Purple Heron. Has occurred both in East Yorkshire and Lincoln- shire. One, a remarkably fine specimen, recorded by the Rev. F. 0. Morris (Zoologist, 1849, p. 2591), was killed in the spring of 1847 on the Lowthorpe " beck " near Drimeld. And Mr. Adrian, of Lincoln, says that some years since he stuffed a Purple Heron, killed by the Rev. J. Metcalf at Hykeham on the river Witham, near Lincoln, and that it is now in the possession of Mr. Broadbent of that city. An- other in good plumage, but not fully mature, as Mr. Boynton informs me, and now the property of Mr. Thos. Ellotson, of Bridlington, was killed on Hornsea mere by "W. Welburn, gamekeeper to H. S. Constable-Esq., of Wassand, in July 1863. 157. ARDEA ALBA, Linnaeus. Great White Heron. No recent occurrence. One in full plumage, and a magnificent specimen, now in the possession of James Hall, Esq., of Scorborough, was shot by a labouring man on the river Hull, near Beverley, about the year 1835*. 158. ARDEA COMATA, Pallas. Squacco Heron. Mr. Adrian, of Lincoln, informs me that a speci- * Mentioned by Mr. Yarrell, ' British. Birds/ 2nd edition, vol. ii. p. 520. Also another killed about twelve or thirteen years pre- viously near Hornsea mere, where it had been seen for some weeks. 104 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. men, stuffed by himself, was killed some years since at Fillingham near Gainsborough in the northern division of Lincolnshire. 159. BOTAURUS MINUTUS (Linnseus) . Little Bittern. A recent appearance of this rare bird in this county was in the spring of 1870, when an adult male was shot on the 20th of May near Gainsborough by a gamekeeper. Mr. Richardson, of Beverley, received this bird in the flesh. Mr. Boulton had a fine mature male in his collec- tion, shot in Lincolnshire some years since. An immature female was shot on the Mere near Scarborough, in August 1863 (Zool. p. 8770). 160. BOTAURUS STELLARIS (Linnaeus). Common Bittern. Provincial. Butter-bump. This species, formerly so well known in the eastern counties, can now only be considered a rare and accidental visitor, the drainage of the fens and marshes and the various agricultural improvements of the last half century having completely broken up all its old haunts, and rendered the district quite unsuitable as a residence and breeding-place. From all I can learn, they became extinct as residents in this neighbourhood from forty to fifty years since; in BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 105 the Trent border country remaining to a considerably later period*. Mr. Boulton, in the ' Zoologist' for 1864 (p. 8960) writes that twenty to thirty years ago the Bittern was of common occurrence, so much so that a particular bend of the river Hull, known as Eske, was formerly called "butter-bump" Hall, from the booming of these birds that lived around itf. The occurrences to my knowledge of this species with us during the last ten years have only been during the winter namely, one in November, two in Decem- ber, four in January, and four in February. 161. NYCTICORAX GRISEUS (Linnaeus). Night Heron. The only occurrence, as far as I am aware, of this rare species is an immature specimen shot a few years ago near Cottingham, about five miles from Bever- ley, by a man named Martin, keeper to Mr. Ringrose, of Cottingham. Mr. Boulton secured this bird for his collection. * In the 'Zoologist' for 1865, p. 9419, the Rev. Samuel Hudson, of Ep worth, remarks, "about thirty years since this magnificent species was very abundant here ; but the improved drainage has caused their visits to be few and far between." t The well-known provincial name of this species also occurs in Lincolnshire as the name of one of the hamlets of Willough- by-in-the-Marsh, near Alford, as well as other localities in the county. F5 106 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 162. CICONIA ALBA, Bechstein. White Stork. A white Stork (now, as Mr. Richardson, of Bever- ley, informs me, in the possession of Mr. P. Lawton, Innkeeper, Easington) was shot near Withernsea, on the coast of Holderness, by a man named Crawforth, early in September 1869*. 163. CICONIA NIGRA (Linnseus) . Black Stork. Mr. Morris, in his ' British Birds/ vol. iv. p. 163, records, on the authority of his brother, Beveiiey R. Morris, Esq., the capture of a fine specimen of this magnificent Stork by a Mr. Wake on Market-Weigh- ton Common, in the East Riding, about the 29th of October, 1852. This is doubtless the same, now in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, mentioned by Mr. Yarrell, ' British Birds/ vol. ii. 3rd edition, p. 592. Is found in Eastern Russia and Siberia during the summer, going south in winter. PLATALEA LEUCORODIA, Linnseus. White Spoonbill. There is every probability that before the drainage of the fens the Spoonbill was found in this county, as was undoubtedly the case in the neighbouring county of Norfolk, where they at one time nested on trees, like Herons j\ Now it must be numbered * Zoologist for 1869, p. 1946. t See Mr. Stevenson's remarks on Sir Thomas Browne's notes of this species in Norfolk, 'Birds of Norfolk/ vol. ii. p. 184. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 107 amongst the very rarest of our occasional visitors. One, a splendid mature male, said to have been shot near Grimsby, was obtained in the flesh by Mr. Boulton about seven or eight years since. Another was received by Mr. Clayton, the Louth bird-stuffer, shot in that neighbourhood, as near as he can recollect, some time in 1867. These, as far as I am aware, are the only recent occurrences on our coast *. 165. IBIS FALCINELLUS (Gmelin) . Glossy Ibis. Some time in the autumn of 1869 a Glossy Ibis was shot on Reed Island near the mouth of the Trent by Mr. R. Pilkinton, and received in the flesh by Mr. Gravil, of Epworth. It is now in the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun. An immature specimen was obtained at Filey, in 1863 (Roberta's Scarborough List). GBALLATOEES. SCOLOPACID^E. 166. NUMENIUS ARQUATUS (Linnaeus). Curleiv. Provincial. Whaup. Common during a great portion of the year on the Humber shores, leaving us for a short period in the * From the notices in the 'Zoologist' and ' Field' newspaper, specimens of the Spoonbill appear to be met with almost every year in the spring on the coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk. It is still not uncommon in Holland j on the 24th of July, 1872, 1 saw a pair of old birds near the mouth of the Western Schelde. 108 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. spring* and returning early in August, and ccasion- ally in Julyf. Are extremely numerous in the autumn on the Humber foreshore, where they may be found scattered over the " muds/' not in flocks, but four or five together. At this time, from their com- parative tameness, many are shot. Later in the season they pack together and become excessively wild and wary. The flocks now each morning at day-break leave the coast and seek the interior, where they feed throughout the day, in company with the Common and Brown-headed Gulls, in the 1 arge sheep-walks on our ' f wolds. v In the dry autumn of 1870, a flock numbering about a couple of hundred passed each morning at sunrise over this village, re- turning by the same line, but in small parties and detachments, between four and five o'clock in the afternoon, to the mud flats or, at high water, land immediately contiguous to the coast. A considerable proportion of these autumn birds leave us and go further south to wards the end of the * In the cold wet summer of 1871, considerable numbers of old Curlews remained in the vicinity of the Huraber throughout the summer months. t The first returning after the breeding-season are usually very large and light-coloured birds, which resort to the grass lands in the marshes. They are always much shyer and wilder than the small family parties which later in the season appear on the " flats." I have, however, occasionally succeeded in shooting them by lying concealed in the corn-fields adjoining the pastures they frequent. These are doubtless the " Great Harvest Curlews" alluded to by Mr. Stevenson ('Birds of Norfolk/ vol. ii.p. 198). BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 109 season. Many, however, remain to winter. They are far less plentiful on the return journey, which takes place towards the end of February, or early in March ; I have now for years observed that there are always about this time very considerable additions to our local birds. They are then very wild and shy, and it is impossible to get near them without resort- ing to stratagem ; they also keep much to the coast, only going inland to feed in those wet springs when the land is thoroughly soaked. As a rule the Curlew leaves before the arrival of the Whimbrel, which takes place early in May ; some few pairs will linger about the foreshore until the end of May, or even into June*. The flesh of the Curlew, more particularly of the old birds, is bitter and unpalatable ; and it is in less re- quest as an article of food than any of our shore birds f. The price asked by our gunners is a shilling. 167. NUMENIUS PH.EOPUS (Linnaeus) . Whim- brel. Provincial. Curlew-Jack, Half-Curlew, Curlew-knot. A common spring and autumn visitant, in the for- * Many young birds of the previous year remain on the coast throughout the summer, and do not go northward to breed. t It is curious, showing the estimation this bird was held|in by our forefathers, that the price of the 'Kyrlew,' as set forth in the 'Northumberland Household Book ' (begun in 1512), was twelve pence, an extraordinary sum for that day Pheasants, Bitterns, and Herons being valued at the same price, while such modern delicacies as the Woodcock and Teal were fixed at Irf. to l^d., and Mallards and Partridges 2d. each. 110 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. mer season visiting the neighbourhood of the Hum- ber during the first week in May with great regu- larity and often in very large flocks, numbering oc- casionally as high as two hundred birds *. They leave again for their northern breeding-stations in the third or fourth week in that month, a few as late as the first week in June ; and as I have seen them off the coast again in July, they may be said never to be en- tirely absent in any month. Whimbrels chiefly resort during the time they remain with us to the pasture lands in the marshes ; and in this respect their habits differ widely from the Curlew, which is almost exclu- sively at this season a shore bird. Their food consists of worms, coleoptera, and various insects ; and on the " flats " they pick up small crustaceans from the tidal pools. They are very partial to washing and bathing ; coming down to the tide edge each day, and wading out breast-deep, they scatter the water with their wings in sparkling showers over their backs and body. After the bath they stand on the foreshore gently fanning their wings to and fro, or preening and arranging their plumage. Whimbrels are far less circumspect than the Cur- lew, and with a little care and caution may easily be approached within gunshot. * I have seen small flocks in April on the flats, and on one occasion as early as the first week in that month. The earliest arrivals never remain long, probably going forward to some more northern station. The main body arrive, almost to a day, from the 1st to the 3rd of May. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Ill In the autumn, compared with the large spring flocks, few visit us ; at this season they pass over the district without alighting. This autumn migration, which is carried on in the daytime, takes place from the middle of July to the end of September*. These migratory flocks vary in size from eight or ten and up- wards ; I have never observed them to exceed thirty birds. They advance at an immense height, generally in line, one leading, the rest following, not directly, but " en echelon" and are constantly repeating their call-note, without which, indeed, owing to the great height at which they fly, it would be impossible to identify them. 168. TOTANUS FUSCUS (Linnaeus). Spotted Red- shank. All the specimens, four in number, of this rare wader that I have hitherto met with in this district have been in the autumn, and are all in the smoke- black and spotted plumage. From what our "gunners" have told me, I am inclined to think that it is of more regular occurrence on our shores in the autumn than is generally supposed, and that it is sometimes mis- taken for the young of the Common Redshank. 169. TOTANUS CALIDRIS (Linnaeus) . Common Red- shank. This is one of those species formerly very abundant * In 1865 I observed small flocks on their return passage during the first week in July. 112 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. in this county, where, previously to the drainage and reclamation of the fen-lands, it nested annually in large numbers along with other allied species. It has long ceased to do so in this neighbourhood, and, as far as I am aware, also in South Lincolnshire, and must now be considered only a spring and autumn visitor. The Redshank is found on our ff muds" in the spring in pairs as well as in small flocks*, and again early in autumn in family parties composed of the old birds and their young brood. This return journey begins in August, and is continued through September ; 1 have seen and shot it at Flamborough in July. Mr. Boynton writes me that, like the Turnstone, it is of extremely rare occurrence on the Yorkshire coast, and that he has never shot one. This is rather re- markable, considering how common it is in the Humber in the autumn. Some remain on the coast throughout the winter in severe weather, receiving large accessions from more northerly districts. 170. TOTANUS OCHROPUS (Linnaeus). Green Sand- piper. Provincial. White-rumped Snipe, Whistling Snipe. This beautiful and distinctly marked bird is far from uncommon on our streams and drains, in the marsh as well as the middle-marsh district. The * I have seen a pair in summer plumage on the flats as late as the 15th of May. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 113 V beck " in this parish has always been a very favourite haunt of this species. I have little doubt that the Green Sandpiper has occasionally remained to breed in the vicinity of this stream. I have known a pair or two remain with us all through the summer, and have likewise seen them early in August along with the young birds, which did not appear much more than half-grown. The fish-keeper, who looks after the stream, says that he has yearly observed the old and young about this date; on July 31st, 1868, he saw two old and two young birds together. In the same season a farmer, who occupies land bordering the stream in the adjoining parish of Aylesby, and who is as well acquainted with these birds as I am, told me that he was quite certain they had that year nested in the neighbourhood. He had seen them about one particular spot through the summer, and some time about the end of July noticed four young birds along with the old ones sitting on a sandbank in the "beck." He said "they were quite little things/' and could " only fly a few yards at once ; " they were "quite a different colour to the old birds" "much lighter." He nearly every day for some weeks after this saw the old and young together, and one day shot one of the young, which he said " was about as large as a Jack Snipe." Mr. Stevenson, in a note to his paper on this species (' Birds of Norfolk/ vol. ii. p. 226), on the authority of Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., says: 'Mr. 114 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Alfred Roberts, of the Museum at Scarborough, has had the Green Sandpiper (T. ochropus) several times from the neighbourhood of Hunmanby, in all cases shot in June. The keeper there says they breed in old Crows' nests; he has seen them come off from the nests." A peculiarity in this bird is its strong semiaromatic smell, resembling musk, and very similar to what is observed in the Fulmar Petrel. 171. TOTANUS GLAREOLA (Linnaeus). Wood Sand- piper. I have never met with the Wood Sandpiper in North Lincolnshire ; nor have I any notice of its oc- currence of late years either in this county or in Holder ness. 172. TOTANUS HYPOLEUCUS (Linnaeus) . Common Sandpiper. Provincial. Summer Snipe. Not uncommon on our streams and drains in the spring, where it arrives in pairs about the fourth week in April *, leaving again about the end of May or the commencement of June. I have no record of its ever having remained to nest. Is seen again in the early autumn, in August and September, about our marsh drains, but is at this season always less plentiful than in the spring. * In 1867, April 22nd; 1868, April 23rd; 1869, April 22nd. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 1 15 173. TOTANUS GLOTTIS (Pallas). Greenshank. Occurs as a spring and autumn visitant to the mud-flats and sea-coast, but is by no means common. I have never met with them in any thing like flocks usually either singly or two or three together. They feed in company with Knot and other waders, and are always excessively wild and shy, rising on the slightest sign of danger. Occasionally in the early autumn we hear their shrill call-notes when flying at an immense height over the marshes. Appears on the flats in April, and again in August and September. On the 18th of August, 1868, I killed a beautiful mature male on the Stallinborough fitties, flying in company with a Redshank, both falling to the same shot*. The stomach was well filled with small crabs about as large as peas. Greenshanks were more plentiful than usual on our coast in the autumn following the dry hot summer of 1870. Mr. Boulton has specimens shot on the river Hull, and considers it a decidedly rare visitor in Holderness. 174. RECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA, Linnaeus. Avocet. Mr. Pennant, writing of the Avocet in his f British Zoology/ says : " We have seen them in considerable numbers in the breeding -season near Fossdyke Wash in Lincolnshire ; like the Lapwing, when disturbed they flew over our heads, carrying their iiecks and * Are now in the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun. 116 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. long legs quite extended, and made a shrill noise (twit), twice repeated, during the whole time. Colonel Montagu, at the beginning of the present century, speaks of them as still breeding in our fens. It is too probable, however, that its extinction as a Lincolnshire bird took place very shortly after this date. It now occurs only as a very rare wanderer to oar shores. One, mentioned in Mr. Alington's list of the birds of Croxby Pond, was shot in that locality by the late Mr. Harneis, of Thorganby Hall. In April 1867 a bird, which I have every reason for thinking belonged to this species, frequented the mud-flats in this parish for about a fortnight. It was very wild, and succeeded in escaping unscathed the attentions of our local gunners. I have no notice of its occurrence in East York- shire. 175. LIMOSA MELANURA, Leislcr. Black-tailed Godwit. Provincial. Large black-and-white tailed Curlew-whelp. Formerly a resident, breeding annually in our fens*. Like other of our rarest shore birds once indigenous in the county, are now only known as occasional spring and autumn visitors to the coast and the * I am told still occasionally visits the South Lincolnshire marshes in pairs during the spring j but T have no notice of their having remained to nest. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 117 Humber mud-flats. Compared, however, with their congener the Bar-tailed Godwit, they are a rare bird. I have met with them on the flats in May in every stage of plumage some having acquired the nuptial dress with the bay breast, others having only par- tially assumed it, and also birds that late in the month showed little or no indication of a change from the winter garb, excepting a rich buff tinge on the underparts. In the autumn of 1870, during the months of August and September, this species was exceptionally numerous on the coast, and several were killed by the Grimsby gunners. Their great shyness, however, stood them in good turn, and they suffered less pro- portionally than the common and tamer species. On the 29th of August in this season I had an oppor- tunity of examining through a telescope a flock of nine feeding together with Knot and the common Godwit on the Humber mud-flats. Two of these were in the full summer dress, another in transition ; the remainder appeared to be birds of the year. They have all the characteristic manner of the Bar-tailed Godwit, but are readily distinguishable by their larger size, longer legs and bill, and white tail tipped with black, also by their call-note. I have never met with the Black-tailed Godwit on the coast during the winter months, or detected it during the same season in the local game-shops. 118 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 176. LIMOSA RUFA, Temminck. Bar-tailed Godwit. Provincial. Curlew-whelp. Occurs each year, often in considerable numbers, in the spring and autumn, both within the Humber and on the sea-coast, where several also remain resi- dent throughout the winter. In the spring they appear regularly on our muds during the second week in May, a little later than the Grey Plover and Whim- brel, remaining to the end of the month, and taking their departure about the same dates as these birds. At this time many have acquired the brilliant nuptial dress ; there will be others, however, still in transition, and some as yet showing little or no change. Every observer must be struck with the great irregularity with which many of our shore birds assume the garb of summer ; and it appears very difficult to lay down any general rule. The probability is that the oldest and strongest first put on the nesting-plumage, and that of these it is the male which takes precedence both as to time and depth of colouring, followed at a later period and more gradually by the young of the preceding year*. From the very backward state of the plumage of many of our shore-Birds (as Knot, Grey Plover, Godwit, &c.) at the time they leave us, I am inclined to think that the young of the preceding year do not fully acquire the brilliant plumage of the older bird till the second summer. * See Mr. Stevenson's admirable paper on the Bar-tailed Godwit, < Birds of Norfolk/ vol. ii. p. 253. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 119 Early in the autumn the Godwits commence their return southward, and in much greater numbers than is tl.e case during the spring migration. By the second week in August I have met with birds on our flats in every stage of plumage. We sometimes find this species inland, feeding in the pastures in the marshes at some distance from the coast*. The Godwits which visit our foreshore in the spring and autumn feed largely on an annelid, Arenicola piscatorum, or some allied species, which they obtain by boring. With the aid of my telescope I have frequently observed their manner of feeding. They advance rather quickly over the flats, and at the same time keep rapidly thrusting their long bills into the ooze, as if feeling for some concealed creature. It is easy to see when any are successful, as instantly every motion displays extreme energy, the bird's head itself being half buried in its eagerness to grasp and hold its wriggling prey. Often when the bill is with- drawn I have seen a huge lob- worm, held crossways, dangling from it. This requires some little mani- * Mr. Pennant, in his ' British Zoology,' says "that these birds are taken in the Lincolnshire fens in the same season, and in the same manner, with Ruffs and Reeves, and when fattened are esteemed a great delicacy, and sell for 25. 6d. or 3s. a piece." In the " Boston Corporation Records/' 1597, appears the follow- ing entry : " To be sent to the Lord Treasurer as a present, 1 dozen Godwights, 5 dozen Knots, and 1 dozen Puets, at the Corporation charge." 120 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. pulation before it can be swallowed; the Godwit's head is thrown backwards, and the mandibles are rapidly worked till the worm becomes properly adjusted, when down it goes, the neck perceptibly swelling and thick- ening in the descent; then there is a satisfied smack of the mandibles, and the search recommences. Whim- brel feed by picking out various small crustaceans from the tidal pools, also by boring the flats. This they do, however, far more circumspectly than the Godwits, not probing in the same hap-hazard manner, but walking discreetly some distance between the borings, and then, standing still, plunge their long scythe-like bill deep into the ooze, as if aware of exactly the proper place where their prey lie concealed. 177. MACHETES PUGNAX (Linnaeus). Ruff (male), Reeve (female). The Ruff and Reeve, formerly so abundant in Lin- colnshire, where its capture and feeding for the London market was a regular trade *, is now only known as a bird of passage, lingering for a few weeks or days in small numbers in the neighbourhood of its old haunts during the period of the spring and autumn migrations. Is almost a regular autumn, but only an occasional spring, visitant to this district. * Mr. Pennant remarks : " These birds are found in Lincoln- shire, the Isle of Ely, and in the East Kiding of Yorkshire, where they are taken in nets, and fattened for the table, with bread and milk, hempseed, and sometimes boiled wheat ; but if BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 121 In September 1864 a mixed flock of about fifteen frequented for soine time some low wet grass lands in this parish. One which I shot was a Ruff and a bird of the year. During the same season there were other small flocks in our marshes, where they con- tinued up to the middle of October. They were never very shy, and when alarmed and put up generally alighted after a short flight in the same field ; when proceeding any distance they flew with great rapidity in the letter V formation. Since this time I have met with examples nearly every year in the Humber marshes in September* ; and, what is rather singular, with scarcely an exception they have been Reeves, either old or young females. In the spring I have hitherto only twice observed them in this parish on the 20th of May eight, all Reeves, three of which I shot ; they were feeding expedition is required sugar is added, which will make them in a fortnight's time a lump of fat ; they then sell for 2s. or 2s. Qd. a piece. Judgment is required in taking the proper time for killing them (when they are at the highest pitch of fatness); for if that is neglected, the birds are apt to fall away. The method of killing them is by cutting off their heads with a pair of scis- sors : the quantity of blood which issues is very great considering the size of the bird. They are dressed like a Woodcock, with their intestines, and, when killed at the critical time, say the epicures, are reckoned the most delicious of all morsels." * Is sometimes at this season shot on the "muds" by our gunners. Some years since, when partridge-shooting in Septem- ber in the marshes, I killed a Reeve as it rose from some shorn wheat-stubbles. It was a remarkably small specimen. G 122 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. at the time in a fifty- acre marsh near the Humber (see < Zoologist/ 1868, p. 1284). In the second week of June 1870 seven Reeves and a Ruff, the latter in the beautiful nuptial dress, haunted for some days some grass-lands known as the ( ' Holms " in this parish ; and from seeing them daily in this locality I had good hopes that they intended nesting with us ; they disappeared, however, towards the middle of the month. In August, also, of this year a similar number (namely, a Ruff and seven Reeves) visited the same locality. The male bird at this time had lost all traces of his nuptial dress. At the commencement of the present century Colonel Montagu found them still breeding in the neighbour- hood of Spalding and Boston, but by no means plen- tifully. About the same period, as far as I can ascertain, they still nested, but in limited numbers, in the North-Lincoln marshes. In the < Zoologist' for 1864 (p. 9362) Mr. Boulton mentions specimens shot from a marshy track of land near the river Hull in the autumn and further states that a gamekeeper who resides near the river says he has not only seen, but killed and eaten, several during that summer, which were in excellent condition, and that he believes they were all of them birds of the year. 178. SCOLOPAX RUSTICOLA, Linnseus. Woodcock, Amongst the many autumn rnigratories visiting the east coast there is none more generally looked for and BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 123 Valued than the Woodcock. As a rule, the first flight may be expected about the second week in October*, in numbers varying greatly from year to year, accord- ing to the state of the wind and weather at the time of their passage. With the prevailing winds off the land in October from S. to W., it is never a great Woodcock season on this coast; but strong winds blowing anywhere from the opposite quarters, from S.E. to N.W., and better, thick, foggy, or drizzly weather accompanying these winds, are invariably highly favourable to an abundant arrival of " cocks" along the eastern seaboard. The stronger the wind and the wilder the weather from these quarters, the greater, as a rule, the number of birds that may be found. It does not follow, however, that these winds are the most favourable for the passage of the Woodcock ; I am inclined to think the reverse is the case, and that we shall find that the most favourable circum- stances for their crossing, as well as our other autumn visitors f, are clear weather and moderate winds from the W. or S., and that a long flight is best kept up, and easiest sustained, either against a head wind or one "a few points free." The fact that Woodcocks are always most numerous at the period of migration * Rarely at an earlier period. I have only once met with it in September (in 1868, on the 27th, a single bird). t At the period of the autumnal migrations, our various migratory species, both of shore and land birds, are invariably most abundant on this coast during or after the prevalence of strong N. or N.E. winds. G2 124 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. on this coast during the prevalence of strong north or easterly winds, shows that these soonest exhaust their powers of flight, causing them to drop directly they make land, instead of proceeding, as they doubtless would have done with a fair head wind, directly for- ward to their winter quarters*. That those seasons with the prevailing winds from S. to W. are never good Woodcock years, is well known to all our coast sportsmen j the probability is, that at these times, as they do not alight, they pass * Mr. A. L. Adams, writing of the migrations of Quail in Malta, remarks, "The coming and going of Quail are very re- gular as to time j and their rarity or abundance in spring and autumn is generally to be accounted for by the prevalence or otherwise of favourable winds." * * * * "Favourable winds rarely brought us any Quail ; and an absence of winds or a lull had the same effect as regards the migratory species generally ; from which it may be supposed that, as long as there is no ob- struction, the majority pass across the Mediterranean without making any stoppage here whatever, and only when fatigued by adverse winds. On the other hand, it is not often I observed that birds drift before the wind, perhaps for the reason that their feathers are disarranged, and that they slant, as it were, to use a nautical phrase, 'with the wind on their quarter;' and the Maltese believe that the Quail keeps one wing motionless and raised like a sail, and thus crosses like a vessel." # # * " In several instances, when large flights of Quail made their appearance, I invariably noticed the wind blowing strong on the shore at the time ; and seldom when they arrived was the weather clear ; in fact the stronger the sirocco or a N. wind, and the denser the sea-haze, the more likely was there to be abun- dance of Quail, as if the flock had suddenly come on the island unawares." Natural History and Archceology of the Nile Val- ley and Maltese Islands, page 99. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 125 t over in the night and are first heard of in the west of England or in Ireland. Those who have seen the weary, heavy, and short flight of the poor bird the morning after its landing, can understand the physical exhaustion caused by a rough adverse passage. If not disturbed, they lie all day like stones, just where they happen to have pitched, and will in some cases allow themselves to be taken up by hand. A few hours' rest quickly recruits their exhausted energies ; and at night they again resume their flight, which, excepting for the circumstances of the difficult pas- sage, would never have been broken. The autumn of 1870 was one of the best Woodcock seasons ever known for many years on the Lincolnshire coast. On the 18th of October a terrific north-easter brought a large flight ; on the 26th of the same month there was another very heavy gale from N.W., and on that and the succeeding mornings great and unusual numbers were shot all along the east coast of Lincoln- shire and Holderness. Many sportsmen entertain the opinion that the "cocks" cross singly and not in flocks, from the fact of their always being found, the morning after landing, solitary and some distance apart, and also that single birds are occasionally seen at daybreak coming in from the sea. The probability is that the flights break up immediately on making land, each bird dropping alone. The single birds observed to come in at daybreak are doubtless those which have alighted on some of the numerous sand- 126 BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. banks, bare at low water, which fringe our flat Lincolnshire coast, the rising tide compelling them to shift their quarters. The lightkeeper at Flamborough told me that he once saw a flight of " cocks" arrive on the Headland in the daytime. They usually reach Mamborough with a N. or N.E. wind, and drop im- mediately on landing, either just topping the cliffs, or in stormy weather dropping at their base, sheltering in any little cave or hollow worn by the waves at the base of the rocks. The dwellers on the Headland and at Spurn are in the autumn led to expect their arrival by the appearance of the Gold-crested Wrens (better known as " Woodcock-pilots ") . It is a remarkable and well-ascertained fact that these little fellows almost invariably precede the Woodcock by a few days. Others, again, draw similar conclusions from the Short-eared Owl and Redwing. On the Lincolnshire coast the rule is, that four days after the Hooded Crows the Woodcocks come*. As a rule, on their first arrival they are very fat and in good condition ; we occasionally, although rarely, meet with an exception. I have weighed them from 12} to as low as 7 ounces f. * Mr. Pennant, in his ' British Zoology/ says, "When the Redwings appear on the coast in autumn, it is certain the Wood- cocks are at hand ; when the Royston Crow, they are come. Between the 12th and 25th of March they flock to the coast to be ready for their departure. t Speaking of the weight of the Woodcock, Mr. L. Lloyd says, "The heaviest I ever killed in Scandinavia little exceeded BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 127 t The first flights are succeeded later in the season by others, which keep dropping in throughout October and November ; and I have known some of our largest arrivals during the last week in the latter month. Occasionally also, should the weather be very severe, Woodcocks will come in December. These latter, how- ever, are probably from some of the northern counties, and not from the north of Europe. The Woodcock, as a rule, when once fairly established in its winter quarters, seldom wanders far from home. The best Woodcock-covers in North Lincolnshire are Lord Yarborougfr's Manby preserves and the woods of Sir John Nelthorpe. In both these localities several re- main each year throughout the summer months and breed. Woodcocks evince a great partiality for some favourite plantation or spot in a cover j they are also very partial to oak-woods ; and their presence may be detected by examining the ground under the trees, as in their search for food they turn over the dead leaves, laying them with great regularity, but the other side upwards. They return to the coast about the first week in March ; and I have not found them in our plantations later than the middle of that month. 16 ounces ; and that was shot very late in the autumn, and ex- cessively fat." Game-birds and Wild Fowl of Norway and Sweden. 128 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 179. SCOLOPAX MAJOR (Gmelin). Great Snipe. I have never met with this species in North Lincolnshire, where it is only known as a very rare visitor. One was shot from a potato-field near the Ashby Decoy in September 1868, during which sea- son they were abundant in some parts of England. Another, recorded by Mr. Boulton (Zoologist, 1864, p. 8890), and which he examined in the flesh, was killed on the river Hull on the 22nd of October, 1863, by Mr. W. Stephenson, of Beverley. The weight of this bird was 8 ounces 2 drachms, the gizzard containing a few seeds and vegetable matter. These, as far as I know, are the only recent occurrences in this district. The general line of flight of the Great Snipe, as well as that of the Grey Phalarope, during their autumn migration, appears almost invariably to cross the east coast south of Lincolnshire. We rarely meet with either north of the Wash. 180. SCOLOPAX MEDIA (Leach). Common Snipe. Provincial. Full Snipe. The deep drainage and high cultivation of the last twenty years have not only broken up the principal haunts of the Snipe, but tended greatly to reduce the number of those which yearly visit us in the autumn and winter. A few pairs still remain to nest in North Lincolnshire. Snipe are most variable both as to their time of arrival and quantity ; in some seasons they visit us in great numbers, in others, without any BIRDS Of THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 129 very apparent cause, are equally scarce. As early as the middle of July a few Snipe visit our marshes; these are probably local birds and residents in the district, as a few pairs may generally be found in the vicinity of some of the small bogs and "blow- wells" in the marshes throughout the summer. It is towards the end of August, but more usually in September, that the first migratory Snipe arrives ; the first flights seldom appear to resort to the bogs and drains, but prefer dry situations amongst rough grass, stubbles, turnips, &c. ; when flushed they fly slowly and lazily, soon dropping again, similar to a tired Woodcock, and very different from themselves " with the wild, dashing, zigzag flight adopted in the winter. These early birds remain only a short time with us, and are succeeded later in the season by the main body, coming at uncertain periods from the middle of October to the end of November. The most favourable conditions for their appearance are a strong north-east wind with heavy rains. At such times they may be found in the marsh turnip-fields in large f ( wisps." At the report of a gun twenty or thirty rise together; but, from their excessive wildness, the sportsman may traverse an entire field without ob- taining more than a couple of shots. They seldom re- main in these situations longer than twenty-four hours, leaving the district as they came, in a body. I have- frequently crossed fields without finding a single bird, which on the previous day literally swarmed with them. 130 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Their winter movements are as erratic as their flight, and most difficult to account for ; sometimes equally plentiful in the mildest and the hardest win- ters, they are at other times as unaccountably scarce. I have known them in some of the severest seasons, with long periods of frost and snow (as was the case in the severe winter of 1860-61), most plentiful on our open drains, springs, and water-courses, whilst in the very similar winter of 1870-71 they almost to a bird left the district. Snipe have paired by the first week in March, and should never be shot after this date. They leave us for their northern breeding- stations about the second week in April. I have on two or three occasions both seen and shot a very large Snipe in these marshes, answering to the Scolopax russata of Mr. Gould. In its habits it differs from the common species in being found solitary, rising without any cry, and in its flight, which is both slower and more direct than that of its con- gener, resembling very much the flight of a Wood- cock. 181. SCOLOPAX GALLINULA, Lhmseus. Jack Snipe. Provincial. Half Snipe. Less numerous than the preceding, in the propor- tion of about a third of the common species, and in some localities about half. Whilst there has been in late years a decided decrease in the number of the " Full Snipe " visiting this district, I am inclined to BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 131 hink that the ' { Jack " has rather increased. This apparent increase, however, may be due to more equal relative proportions of the two species. In this neighbourhood, compared with the Common Snipe, very few are shot, many sportsmen seldom shooting at them except to make up the number in the bag. Their habit, too, of lying close often stands them in good stead, particularly where the ground is not carefully looked over, which is seldom the case when Snipe rise wild. The Jack Snipe arrives in the autumn in October*, and occasional stragglers in September ; I have met with it as early as the 21st of that month f. Like the preceding, the first arrivals are found in the most un- looked-for situations- dry pasture-lands, and both shorn and mown stubble-fields. They remain with us throughout the winter, appearing less susceptible to severe cold than the Common Snipe. Are always plentiful during the period of the spring migration ; and at this time the numbers found in our marsh bogs are often considerably in excess of those of the Com- mon Snipe. They leave about the commencement of April, some few lingering to the middle or even the end of that month J. * Most probably comes in flocks, as on their first appearance we almost invariably find many together. t Mr. Boulton, in the f Zoologist ' for 1863, p. 8770, mentions a Jack Snipe shot on the river Hull by Mr. T. Buckley on the 18th of August in that year. \ On the 22nd of March, 1871, in a small bog (about forty 132 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. I have found in the stomach of this species broken fragments of freshwater shells, as well as entire minute bivalve shells (Pisidia) . 182. TRINGA SUBARQUATA (Giildenstaedt) . Curlew Sandpiper. Not common. I have met with it on the flats in the spring, but more commonly in the autumn, and almost invariably associating with Dunlin, from which in flight it may be distinguished by the white upper tail- coverts. It is by no means a shy bird, and when alone will permit a very near approach. One, a male, was shot at Spurn on the 9th of October, 1869, from a flock of Dunlin, by T. Buckley, Esq. 183. TRINGA CANUTUS, Linnaeus. Knot. Occurs annually in the autumn, often in immense flocks, on the Humber foreshores, some portion of which, as the season advances, retire southward, many, however, remaining; and they may be found in greater or less numbers all through the winter along the coast. These receive large accessions, probably from some northern locality, in severe weather, their abundance or scarcity during the winter season ap- square yards in extent) situated near the Aylesby "beck," 1 flushed four couple of u Jacks ;" at the same place, on the 5th of April, three birds, and on the 25th a single bird. I again carefully examined this place on the 2nd of May, but without finding any. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 133 pearing mainly dependent on the mildness or severity of the weather. The Knots commence their return southward in August : there are usually small companies to be found on the " flats " during the first fortnight in that month ; and in the autumn succeeding the dry hot summer of 1870 they appeared in very large flocks as early as the first week in August*. These early flocks are composed principally of the young of the year (having the buff breast) , with a sprinkling of old birds in various stages of change, the full summer plumage being quite exceptional. The southern movement is continued all through September and October, flight after flight arriving on the foreshore. About the end of the latter month, or early in No- vember, what may be called the main body arrives, the flocks at this time often numbering many thou- sands f. In the spring the movement northward is * In the summer of 1872, in the first and second weeks of July there were flocks of Knots on the Yorkshire and Lincoln- shire coast ; and on the 23rd of the same month I saw a small flock near Flushing, at the mouth of the Schelde. f The following extract on this species from one of my note- books was published in the < Zoologist ' for 1866, p. 75 : " No- vember_4th. This evening, shortly before sunset, I witnessed a most extraordinary gathering of Knots on the Humber flats. When at some distance from the 'bank I was attracted by the noise made in their occasional short flights along the coast the roar, or rather rush, made by their wings in flight reminding me, more than any thing else, of the noise made by a mighty host of Starlings when settling down for the night. On cau- 134 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. commenced about the beginning of April, and is con- tinued throughout the month and into May ; and in cold backward springs they linger till the second or third week before taking their final departure, the late flocks at this period containing birds in summer plumage and others in an advanced state*. Knots tiously peering over the embankment, a beautiful and very striking scene met my gaze. The tide was coming in, and from three to four hundred yards of the flats were still uncovered ; in the west the sun was going down in a blaze of glory, and the usual grey and dreary mud plains had borrowed the gorgeous colours of sunset they were purple with reflected light, while beyond, the great river in all its tranquillity, and almost unbroken by a ripple, was barred and streaked with purple, gold, and crimson. Thousands and thousands of Knots were massed to- gether on the foreshore, here crowded as closely as they could sit, then again straggling out into a more open line, and then again massed together by thousands. Some hundreds of yards length, and about thirty breadth, along the edge of the water, were fairly crowded with them. One part or other of this great congregation was almost constantly on the wing, flying over the heads of those sitting, and then settling again. All the time they kept up what I may almost call a continual warbling j the blended notes 'of so many birds was so completely unlike the usual sharp cry of the Knot, that at first I could scarcely believe it came from that species ; it more resembled the twittering of a countless flock of Linnets. Shortly before sunset the flock rose, taking a course directly across the Humber : they did not all rise together, but, commencing at one extremity, gradually took flight. When all on the wing, their appearance was that of an immense dark undulating line of smoke from the funnel of a steamboat." * A flock of forty-five Knots on the Humber flats, examined through a telescope on the 13th of May, 1871, showed three BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 135 feed both by day and night, and are particularly active and on the move at sunset. In the winter months I have observed that invariably about half an hour before dark all the Knots on the coast will be on the wing, moving towards some favourite feeding- ground. The gizzard, which is remarkably large and strong compared with the size of the bird, I have fre- quently found quite crammed with broken and entire shells of marine bivalves, principally of the genus Tellina. Mr. Pennant speaks of this species as being taken in great numbers on the Lincolnshire coast from the beginning of August to that of November, in nets, and that fourteen dozen have been taken at once. 184. TRINGA PLATYRHYNCHA, Temminck. Broad- billed Sandpiper. A very beautiful specimen of this rare Sand- piper was shot in April 1863, at Hornsea Mere, in Holderness, by G. Ellotson, of Bridlington, and is now in Mr. Ellotson's possession. It was in com- pany with some Dunlins at the time. 185. TRINGA MINUTA, Leisler. Little Stint. The Little Stint is of rare occurrence on the Lin- colnshire and Yorkshire coasts. I have met with it on the mud flats on the Lincolnshire side of the birds in the summer dress, and others in transition, the remain- der exhibiting scarcely any change from the sober winter dress. 136 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Humber both in the spring and autumn, but more frequently in the latter season, and usually in the company of Dunlins and not in distinct flocks. Mr. Boultou had a specimen shot some years since on the Yorkshire coast, near Bridlington Quay. 186. TRINGA TEMMINCKII, Leisler. Temminck's Stint. Mr. Boulton informs me that he once examined a specimen that had been shot on the Yorkshire coast, near Bridlington Quay. 187. TRINGA VARIABILIS, Meyer and Wolf. Dunlin. Provincial. Stint, Sea-lark. The most abundant and well-known of our shore birds. Is found on the sea-coast and Humber flats in flocks (often containing many thousands) during a great part of the year, being, as a rule, only absent in the breeding-season (in June and July) ; and even then a few may almost always be seen on the ( ' muds " "*, the sole representatives of the waders. Although generally so abundant on the Humber, there are occasionally long periods (often extending for weeks) during the winter and spring when, with * I found them in large flocks at Spurn on the 2nd of July, 1868. Specimens killed were in full summer plumage. On the 17th of July, 1872, 1 saw from 200 to 300 on the Spurn shingles. With the aid of a powerful binocular I examined the flock at the short distance of eighteen paces, and, judging from their plumage, believe them to have been birds of the previous summer not yet breeding. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 137 the exception of a few small parties, they forsake the district. Such was the case towards the close of the severe winter of 1870-71, and the mild winter of 1871-72, when, from about the beginning of February to the end of March, Dunlins, along with other waders, were almost entirely absent from the flats. There are invariably large arrivals early in August, coming at the same time as the Kinged Plover, with which they associate, resorting with them to the fallows and summer-eaten clover-fields, and less commonly to the coast. I have long been of opinion that we have two races or varieties of Dunlin in this district* the one ex- tremely numerous, coming in immense migratory flocks from the north, and feeding on the "muds," retiring at high water to lands adjoining ; the other variety, or race, is scarce, and frequents almost exclusively the muddy borders of our large marsh- drains f- These latter differ very considerably in their habits from the coast Dunlin, and are always remarkable for their great tameness, and in this alone exhibit a singular contrast to the wild and shy coast Dunlin. For the guidance of future observers * See Mr. Stevenson's paper on the Dunlin, ' Birds of Nor- folk/ vol. ii. p. 382. t Some of our gunners are familiar with these little drain Dunlins, and consider them a race of local birds to be found throughout the season on the drains near the coast, and differ- ing from the northern Stints which visit the mud flats in such enormous flocks in the autumn. 138 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. I will state what I consider the principal points of distinction between the two races. The little " drain Dunlin" differs from the more common species in resorting to the borders of the marsh-drains, or to the "fittie" land adjoining the "muds/' in preference to the flats, and is remarkable for its extreme tame- ness, permitting a very close approach. In appear- ance it is a slightly smaller and more delicate-looking bird than the larger type, and has a shorter bill. The winter plumage is paler, with a whiter and more sil- very appearance, reminding one of the winter dress of the Sanderling. In the summer the plumage of the upper parts, although generally resembling the same in the Dunlin, is richer and brighter in colour ; and beneath, the black pectoral patch is smaller, less clearly denned, and more broken into with white, with the sides of the body more closely streaked with dusky brown. The note, although it has a general resemblance to the call of the coast Dunlin, yet differs in being weaker and more frequently and rapidly repeated. The smaller race is much later in assuming the summer dress. I have taken parasites from the drain Dunlin which I have not found on the common species, and differing widely in appearance from those peculiar to that bird. As an article of food, compared with the Knot and other birds, the Dunlin is not considered a great delicacy. Immense numbers, in severe weather, BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 139 when they pack together, are destroyed by our coast shooters. I have known 11 \ dozen, including a few Knots, Redshanks, and Grey Plovers, killed on these flats at a single discharge. 188. TRINGA MARITIMA, Briinnich. Purple Sand- piper. Not uncommon on the sea-coast in the autumn, either in small parties or in company with Dunlins. It rarely occurs, however, at this season within the Humber*, although not uncommon at Spurn at the mouth of the river in the autumn. I have only once met with it in the spring, namely a small flock of seven on the rocks at the extreme point of the Flamborough Headland on the 25th of April, 1865. 189. PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS (Linnaeus) . Grey Phalarope. Although specimens have from time to time been obtained in this county, I am aware of no recent occurrence of the Grey Phalarope in North Lincoln- shire. Mr. Boulton during the last ten years has had them in winter plumage, shot along the coast of East^Yorkshire and the Humbert . * On the 12th of November, 1871, 1 obtained a beautiful spe- cimen from the Humber embankment in this parish. t Mr. Roberts (Zool. p. 4558) records no less than fourteen Grey Phalaropes and one Red-necked Phalarope, obtained near Scarborough in the autumn of 1854. 140 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. In the autumns of 1866 and ]869 there was an extraordinary arrival of these beautiful birds along the south-east and southern coasts, this immigration not extending further north than the county of Nor- folk. I can find no notice of even a single specimen having been seen or captured on the Lincolnshire coast in either of these seasons, and in East Yorkshire only two*. 190. PHALAROPUS HYPERBOREUS (Linnaeus). Red- necked Phalarope. The following extract from the 'Zoologist' for 1871, p. 2471, refers to the only bird of this species I have hitherto met with in this county : " Decem- ber 12th, 1870. I came quite suddenly this morning on a beautiful little Phalarope swimming in a drain near the Humber. I saw at once by its small size (about as large as a Dunlin) and plumage that it was not the grey species. The little bird rode as buoy- antly as a Gull upon the water, with head thrown backward like a duck. It was the first occasion that I have seen a Phalarope in these marshes ; I observed all its movements intently. It was shy, but not wild, diving on my approach for twenty yards up the drain, and then, leaving the water, ran along the narrow strip * See a pamphlet by Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jim., ' On the Occur- rences of the Grey Phalarope in Great Britain during Septem- ber 1866.' In the immigration of Grey Phalaropes during the autumn of 1866, very few examples occurred north of Eamsgate. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 141 of ' warp ' like a Sandpiper. On my moving forward it again entered the water, diving further up the drain, issuing as before on to the f warp/ but this time under the opposite bank ; the dive was again repeated, when I lost sight of it round a sharp bend in the stream. For the next ten minutes I stood at this corner, vainly looking both up and down the drain for its re- appearance, and had nearly given it up when I caught sight of the little creature directly opposite, and with- in a few feet so near, that had I reached forward I might have touched it with the gun-muzzle. No wonder that I had overlooked it ; for it had now ex- actly the appearance of a small lump of earth fallen from the bank ; the whole of its body was sunk below the water, excepting the upper part of the back and head from just below the eyes, which were level with the surface ; the bill and fore part of the forehead also immersed, the water covering the hind part of the neck between the back and head. The deception was perfect ; and had I not been specially looking, I might have passed the place scores of times without noting any thing unusual. As it was, I had stood within a few feet for several minutes, and had passed my eyes over and over again across the place without finding it. Once, and once only, it raised its head, and immediately afterwards dived, going under very quietly and leaving hardly a ripple ; this time I saw it emerge on the drain side about the same distance, namely twenty yards. Just then a flight of Plover 142 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. passed,, at which I fired ; and I think the report must have caused it to rise, as, although I spent an hour in looking up and down the drain, and returned again at a later period in the day, I saw it no more." GBALLATORES. 191. CREX PRATENSIS, Bechstein. Land-Rail. Provincial. Crake. The Corncrake, although a regular visitant, is very locally distributed, and its presence or absence in certain localities appears to be in a great measure dependent on the nature of the season. In wet summers, and consequently great grass years, it has been tolerably numerous ; in years of drought very scarce or absent altogether. To judge from its fa- miliar cry or ' ' crake," it arrives with us in the early part of May, frequenting the grass and low meadow- land bordering the streams. It leaves again in Sep- tember, and I have rarely met with it in the marshes after this month. In this and the adjoining parishes a district which, from the large proportion of pasture- and meadow-land, seems particularly adapted to their habits they were up to the last ten years a comparatively rare bird. In the spring and summer of 1864 they became suddenly tolerably plentiful; and for the next three years there was a gradual an- nual increase in the number visiting us, till in the summer of 1867, to judge from the incessant " crek," BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 143 * " crek" kept up during the whole of the short summer nights, not only in the meadow-lands, but in every part of the parish, we had very considerable numbers located in the district. Curious enough, however, since this period it appears to have entirely left the neighbourhood, as during the dry seasons of 1868-70, and now in 1871, I have never heard its call. The Corncrake lives almost exclusively on insects; I have found the larva of Agrotis segetum in the gizzard. 192. CREX PORZANA (Linnaeus). Spotted Crake. Very locally distributed, but by no means un- common in certain localities and on each side of the Humber. In Lincolnshire it is yet tolerably numerous near Ashby, in the wild district near the Trent ; also in the neighbourhood of Tetney near Grimsby. Mr. Morris, in his ' British Birds/ on the authority of the Rev. R. P. Alington, speaks of it " as common in a small piece of fen, called the " small drains," in the parish of North Cotes, but he has never seen it after October." In Yorkshire it is met with each year in consider- able numbers in the sedges and other aquatic vegeta- tion bordering the banks of the river Hull. Mr. Boulton (Zoologist, 1864, p. 8890), writing of this species, says: " I have seen no less than sixteen specimens already this year ; and others have been seen that were not captured. Up to October 13th 144 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. three specimens were shot ; from the 13th to the, 26th there were twelve shot and three seen ; and on the 2nd of November a specimen was taken alive. I am inclined to think that the Spotted Crake breeds with us, although I have not obtained the egg. Out of the sixteen specimens taken on the river Hull this season, a majority have proved to be young birds several, indeed, were so young I think they must have been bred in the neighbourhood. On the evening of the 26th of October I dissected three specimens, one of which proved to be a mature female ; the other two birds were, one a young male and the other a very young female so young that it could not have travelled far on the wing. The old and young birds, too, have been observed and sprung together, or within a few yards of one another." And again, in the 'Zoologist' for 1866, p. 29: "Several of these birds, in various stages of maturity, have been shot on the river Hull during the summer of 1865." Although there is every probability of its nesting in these localities, I have no authentic record of the discovery of the nest and eggs. 193. CREX PUSILLA (Gmelin). Little Crake. On the 9th of October, 1870, I flushed a specimen of this extremely rare Crake from a small patch of reeds near the Great Cotes stream. I had a most distinct and perfect view of this bird both on the wing and on the ground ; it flew past and round me within BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT.. 145 a few feet, dropping again into the reeds, where, assisted by my setter, I only just missed capturing it by hand. 194. EALLUS AQUATICUS, Linnaeus. Water-Rail. Common in all suitable localities, but more fre- quently observed during the winter season, particu- larly in severe weather, when they resort to the open springs and drains. From their shy and retiring habits, it is difficult to form a correct estimate of the number at any time frequenting a district. I have no reason for supposing the ranks of our resident birds are in- creased in any appreciable degree in the spring and autumn by migratory flocks, which is the case in the neighbouring county of Norfolk, where this species is undoubtedly partially migratory*. Although naturally shy and shunning observation, the Water-Kail when in captivity is both bold and pugnacious. One, which I kept for a short time in the house, assumed a most defiant attitude on any one approaching ; and an attempt to take it up always resulted in a fight and a fierce onslaught upon the extended hand. It ran about the house in the most fearless manner, searching every hole and corner, and perching on the arms and backs of the chairs. When not at large it was kept in a basket with folding lids, closing in the centre; from this, however, it constantly * See Mr. Stevenson's 'Birds of Norfolk/ vol.ii. p. 404. H 146 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. managed to escape, having a wonderful facility for working its way through the very small space left between the closed lids a space so narrow that it appeared almost impossible for even a Sparrow to have squeezed through. 195. GALLINULA CHLOROPUS (Linnaeus) . Water- hen. Common and generally distributed on our ponds, drains, and streams. Considering these birds are such prolific breeders, often eight to ten eggs being found in a nest, and that three broods are sometimes reared in the year, it is somewhat surprising that they do not increase rapidly in numbers. This has cer- tainly not been the case in this neighbourhood. From one cause or other, I believe, a very small proportion of the young broods, compared with other water birds, come to maturity. GEALLATORES. LOBIPEDIDJE. 196. FULICA ATRA, Linnseus. Coot. Provincial Bald-pate, Bald Coot. The Coot, formerly so abundant in our fens*, is now confined to a few favourite localities. Numerous * William of Malmsbury (temp. 1200) tells us that the fens were " so covered with Coots and Ducks, and the flashes with Fowl, that in moulting time, when they cannot fly," the natives " take 2 to 3000 at a draft with their nets." BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 147 on Croxby Lake on the North Wolds, also on Horn- sea Mere in Holderness, as -well as on many private ponds and lakes. I have never, however, met with even a single specimen at any season on any of our numerous "becks," drains, or " blow-wells;" or in severe weather found them in the Humber or along the coast ; and, from all I can gather, it is equally unknown to any of our numerous local gunners. Pied varieties have occurred in this county. NATATOBES. ANATIDJE. 197. ANSER FERUS (Gmelin). Grey Lag Goose*. Provincial. Grey Goose, Grey -legged Goose. The Grey Lag Goose was at one period a permanent resident in our country, breeding in considerable num- bers in the fens of Lincolnshire and carrs of Yorkshire, and is probably the originator of the present domestic breed f. Now it only occurs in the autumn as a rather rare wanderer. I have occasionally met with a small * In the 'Ibis' for J870, p. 301, Professor Newton, on the authority of Mr. Skeat, has given what is probably the true deri- vation of the word "lag," the early English adjective "lag" meaning originally late, last, or slow ; consequently the Grey Lag Goose-was the one which, formerly, lagged behind the others to breed in the fens. f Mr. Pennant, speaking of the immense flocks of Geese for- merly kept in the wild fens of Lincolnshire, remarks : "During the season these birds are lodged in the same houses with the in- habitants, and even in their very bedchambers ; in every apart- H2 148 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. flock or two, but never exceeding seven or eight birds, in the autumn and winter in our North-Lincoln marshes ; they usually resort to some of the extensive grass pastures, keeping together in a body and feed- ing near the centre of the field. When disturbed, they fly in a direct line and at a low elevation to some dis- tant part of the marsh. From their excessive wari- ness and the flatness of the district, it is almost im- possible to approach them within shooting-distance. 198. ANAS SEGETUM (Gmelin). Bean-Goose. Provincial. Wild Goose, Carr Lag- Goose. This well-known species is our common Wild Goose, large flocks of which may be seen passing over in the autumn from their breeding-haunts in the north. The first skeins of Geese generally make their appearance late in September or early in October. On certain portions of our coast during the winter, ment are three rows of coarse wicker pens, placed one above another; each bird has its separate lodge, divided from the others, which it keeps possession of during the time of sitting. A gozzard, or gooseherd, attends the flocks, and twice a day drives the whole to water, then brings them back to their habi- tation, helping those that live in the upper stories to their nests, without even misplacing a single bird." ********** " The Geese are usually plucked five times a year, though some persons pluck them only three times, others four. The first plucking is at Lady day for quills and feathers, and again at Midsummer, Lammas, Michaelmas, and Martinmas." BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 149 large flocks come inland with wonderful regularity at daybreak to their favourite feeding-grounds on the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire Wolds, returning at dusk towards the coast. In fine still weather they fly at a great height, but on wild stormy mornings often within gunshot. I have rarely met with them during the day, except in extremely severe weather, either on our mud-flats or the adjoining marshes. The name of our common Wild Goose is undoubt- edly derived from the circumstance of the autumn migration occurring towards the close of the bean harvest ; under the old system of agriculture a large breadth of land was sown with beans, the rotation being fallow, wheat, beans, fallow, and so on. The beans were cut late in the autumn ; and in wet and backward seasons there was always a considerable loss by the opening of the pods and shedding of the beans. The Geese, I am told, used to come at this time in large flocks to feed on the scattered beans ; hence the name Bean-Goose. I have observed that the bill in this species varies much in size, occasionally in young birds little ex- ceeding in length that of the Short-billed or Pink- footed Goose. 199. ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS, Baillon. Pink- footed Goose. Occurs occasionally, but never in such large flocks 150 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. as the preceding*. Is not unfrequently found singly, or two or three together in our marshes and low- lands, and is more easily approached than either the Grey Lag or Bean-Goose. In its habits it prefers low- lying districts and wet carr or marsh land near the coast, as a rule not resorting to the higher wolds to the same extent as its congener, the Bean-Goose. Mr. Boulton says it is found occasionally in the neigh- bourhood of Beverley, and is generally flushed singly and not in flocks. 200. ANSER ALBIFRONS (Grnelin) . White-fronted Goose. An occasional winter visitant, but by no means common, although tolerably numerous in some sea- sons ; flocks were seen, and several birds shot from them, in the neighbourhood of the Humber during the severe winter of 186465. In this parish I have met with it less commonly than any of the preceding, including even the rare Grey Lag. In its habits and haunts it much resembles that species, but is not so * Mr. St. John, in his 'Natural History and Sport in Moray,' page 43 ; writing of this species, remarks that (( it visits us regu- larly at the same time as the Bean-Goose. The plumage of both birds is very much the same. The Pink-footed Goose, however, is a finer bird, and more distinctly shaded and marked than the Bean-Goose. The general colour of the plumage is lighter. When a flock of Bean-Geese alight on a field to feed, it may be observed that a small company of the birds often separate and feed alone ; these will be found to be the Pink- footed." BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 151 v wild, and less cautious in the choice of a feeding- ground*; and consequently we now and then find it in the local game-shops. 201. ANSER LEUCOPSIS, Bechstein. Bernicle Goose. Provincial. Spanish Goose. I have in some years met with flocks of these Geese in our North-Lincoln marshes, as well as along the coast, where it is known to our shooters by the name of the Spanish Goose. It cannot, however, be con- sidered common in this neighbourhood. There were several small flocks about the river-fiats in the month of December 1867, which season was an exception- ally mild one. In those years when they visit us, they resort principally to the mud-flats, seldom leaving the neighbourhood of the riyer. At low water I have known flock after flock pass up the Humber, flying along the tide- edge and following the course of the stream to their feeding-grounds. Mr. Boulton has had this Goose from the neighbour- hood of Flamborough ; a fine old male which he * Mr.St. John, 'Nat. Hist and Sport in Moray/ page 104, says, "it is more easy to approach than any other wild Goose ; and I have often found it feeding in small hollows and spots easily got at, JKhere the Bean-Goose would never trust itself." Mr. Strickland (Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Feb- ruary 1859) writes, " It is not, and probably never was, a regular migratory or abundant species in this country, but is occasionally found in hard weather, singly or in small groups, frequenting river-sides or small streams, and, I believe, is never found in the open country." 152 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. dissected in March 1864, had an immensely developed gizzard, and a very lengthened intestine; the gizzard containing vegetable matter and fine sand. The length of the intestine from pylorus to anus was nine feet. (Zool. 1864, p. 9048.) 202. ANSER BERNICLA (Linnaeus). Brent Goose. Provincial. Little Black Goose. This, the most oceanic of all the Geese, occurs in severe winters and long-continued frosts in immense flocks off the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coasts ; also within the estuary of the Humber. At low water I have seen them feeding in considerable numbers on the flats, where they are not unfrequently obtained by our gunners. In the spring I have observed them occasionally feeding in the fields of young wheat in the Humber marshes. 203. ANSER ^GYPTIACUS (Linnaeus). Egyptian Goose. Mr. Boynton, of Ulrome Grange, has informed me that in December 1862 a Goose of this species was shot from the pier of Bridlington Quay by Edward Young. This bird is now in the possession of T. Ellotson, the Bridlington birdstuffer. On the 14th of January, 1867, after a heavy gale, an adult female Egyptian Goose, in an exhausted state and wounded, was picked up in a straw yard near Beverley. It is now in the collection of Mr. Stephenson, of Hull BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 153 Bridge, Beverley (Zool. 1867, p. 636). One also was shot from a flock near Filey in December 1859 (Zoologist, p. 6807) . As this species is now extensively naturalized on many private waters, some of the above occurrences have probably been escaped and tame birds. 204. ANSER CANADENSIS (Linnseus) . Canada Goose. Has been procured in Yorkshire, in the East Riding, as well as in other parts of England. This species is now so generally distributed in private waters throughout the country, that it is difficult to determine whether the specimens from time to time obtained are really wild, and not escaped birds. It has un- doubtedly, however, occurred in a wild state in Great Britain. i 205. CYGNUS MUSICUS, Bechstein. The Whooper. Provincial. Elk, Wild Swan. Wild Swans occur nearly every winter on the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coasts, and within the Humber in sharp winters, often in considerable numbers. They were particularly abundant in the severe seasons of 1864-65, 1870-71. During this latter winter some unusually large flocks appeared in the river; these flocks were composed almost ex- clusively of adult birds ; their arrival off" the coast H 5 154 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. was ushered in by the intensely severe weather which terminated the year 1870. In the last week of December in that year there were three small flocks of Whoopers in the Humber, off the coast in this parish, one of fourteen, one of sixteen, and another of five birds ; these appeared to be all, or nearly all, adults in the white plumage. Mr. Boynton, of Ulrome, near Bridlington, writing January 18th, 1871*, says: " On Sunday the 8th in- stant I saw a flock of Hoopers pass over here, forty- two in number; they passed within one hundred yards of where I was standing, and came direct from the sea, taking a westerly course. I have also seen during the last fortnight flocks numbering three, twelve, eight, and eleven respectively; the last lot this morning." Mr. F. Boyes of Beverley (Zool. 1871, p. 2486), says, on the 5th of January a flock of fifteen Hoopers alighted on the river Hull. Three of these were shot one, an old male, measuring five feet in length, and seven feet eight inches in expanse of wing, and weighing twenty and a half pounds ; the other two were females, and were much smaller in size : both these had rust-coloured markings on the back of the head, the rest of the plumage pure white. Another, an adult male (likewise recorded by Mr. Boyes) , and shot at Flamborough by Thomas Leng on the 6th, measured only four feet nine inches in length, but * See Zoologist for 1871, page 2487. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 155 seven feet nine from tip to tip of wing; weight 15f Ibs*. Out of nine sent during the months of January and February in 1871 to Mr. Richardson, of Beverley, for preservation, eight were adult birds. In a second note from Mr. Boyes (Zool. 2643), he writes : "Since my last communication many more flocks have been seen and a good number of birds shot all of them, I believe, with one or two exceptions, old ones. The fearful storm which visited this coast on the 10th of February, drove inland many flocks of Hoopers; and four or five were shot on our river the following day." During the same terrific February galef three Whoopers were shot from the Humber bank in this parish. They were sitting at the foot of the sea em- bankment; and although the shooter fired several shots, they persistently kept near the same place. Mr. J. H. G-urney, Jun., informed me that in this year, on the 6th of February, he saw about twenty Whooper Swans in Leadenhall Market, and was told by one dealer that he had had one hundred, chiefly from the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coasts off Lynn. good mature bird will weigh from 20 to 22 Ibs. ; above this they are quite exceptional. Mr. St. John mentions one shot by himself on Lochlee, which weighed 27 Ibs., the breadth between his wings eight feet, and his length five feet. t This gale commenced blowing from the S. E., backing to E. and N. E., and from the latter points blew a hurricane, with clouds of drifting snow. 156 BIRDS OP THE HTJMBER DISTRICT. In the autumn of 1864 an entire flock, consisting of six immature birds in the brown plumage, was ob- tained by a single gunner off the coast opposite Great Cotes. On the first shot one was left wounded and struggling upon the water ; the remainder then flew round and round the place, sometimes alighting near their wounded comrade, till at last all were killed. Mr. Boyes has recorded in the 'Zoologist' for 1871, p. 2644, a remarkably late stay of this species; writing April 20th, he says, " Three Hoopers, the remains of a flock of seventeen which have frequented a sheet of water in this neighbourhood a great part of the winter, are still staying, and seem quite at home, coming regularly with the tame ones to feed/' The cry of the wild Swan is extremely wild and musical. Some years since, during the prevalence of a severe " blast," I saw forty-two of these noble birds pass over our marshes, flying in the same familiar arrow-head formation as wild Geese use a sight not to be forgotten, not alone for their large size and snowy whiteness, but their grand trumpet notes. Now single, clear, distinct, clarion-like, as a solitary bugle sounds the ' ' advance " or the tongue of some old hound, uplifted when the pack runs mute with a breast-high scent; then, as if in emulation of their leader's note, the entire flock would burst into a chorus of cries, which, floating downwards on the still frosty air, had every possible resemblance to the music of a pack of fox-hounds in full cry sounds which BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 157 have doubtless given rise to the legend, common in some form or other to all the northern races, of the demon huntsman and his infernal pack. In the 'Zoologist' for 1871, p. 2504, Mr. Boulton and Mr. Boyes have drawn attention to the singular conformation of the upper mandible in this species, which possesses a hinge-like joint allowing a greater extension and distention of the mouth ; so that whilst in feeding the lower mandible would act as a sort of shovel, the readily mobile upper mandible works as a sieve or trap upon it to filter matter passing through, retaining and adapting itself to the size of those matters fit for food. 206. CYGNUS MINOR, Keys, and Blasius. Bewick's Swan. Provincial. Little Swan. An occasional visitant to the Humber in severe winters, but never in such large numbers as the pre- ceding. Like the Whoopers, however, was excep- tionally numerous in the very severe winter of 1870-71. In the 'Zoologist' for 1871, p. 2644, Mr. Boyes mentions two flocks of this Swan as seen in that season on the river Hull, one of nine, the other of twenty- two birds. One shot weighed 11^ Ibs., and measured 4 feet in length, 6 feet 6 inches across the wings. On the 2nd of January in the same winter I saw a flock of eleven off the coast in this parish. They rose 158 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. from the muds near the embankment, and alighted on the river a short distance from the shore ; ten of these were adults, the other an immature bird in the brown-grey plumage. When on the water they look fully one third smaller than the Whooper, but float higher out of the water, and have altogether a much smaller appearance than the larger species. Their plumage is brilliant white. They are also much tamer than the Whooper, and in this case permitted an ap- proach within one hundred yards before taking flight*. The flocks of this species which occasionally visit this district are composed almost exclusively of adult birds. I have only met with two immature specimens during the last fifteen years. 207. CYGNUS OLOR (Gmelin) . The Mute Swan. Some Mute Swans which visited the Humber in the severe winter of 1864-65 were probably frozen- out birds. I had a very near view of one of these in * Mr. St. John (' Natural History and Sport in Moray,' p. 72) remarks of this Swan that they a usually come in smaller com- panies than the Hooper. I never see above eight of the Cygnus bewickii together, usually only four or five. They are easily distinguished, "being shorter and more compact-looking birds. They also swim rather higher in the water, and are much tamer. Until they have been shot at and frightened, it is easy to ap- proach them. Their plumage is peculiarly white ; and the young apparently are not of the same blue-grey as those of the Cygnus fonts. I cannot assert this as a fact ; but I never saw one of the Bewick's Swans that was not of a pure and snow-like white- ness." BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 159 the Cotes marshes, and had no doubt at the time it was an escaped bird; it rose and flew towards and past me at short pistol range. I heard some time afterwards that one or two were shot on the river, and supposed to have been tame. The Australian Black Swan (Cygnus niger] has been killed both in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire during the last ten years, in both cases doubtless birds which had wandered from private grounds (see 'Zoologist' for 1864, p. 9251; also s.s. 1870, p. 2410). 208. TADORNA VULPANSER, Fleming. Common Sheldrake. Provincial. Shell-duck, Skel-duck. Still not uncommon, breeding with us, but is not nearly so numerously distributed as was the case fif- teen to twenty years since. At that period a pair or two bred in our north marshes, where the last nest I heard of was taken from the joint between two straw- stacks. At that time a pair or two also annually nested on the Lincolnshire coast near Summercotes. In 186 a pair bred near Cleethorpes, in the neigh- bourhood of Grimsby, but in private grounds, to which cause doubtless they owed their safety. The Sheldrake still nests annually, in limited numbers, in the neighbourhood of Spurn. In the winter of 1869-70 these Ducks were more 160 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. than usually plentiful on the Humber and along the Lincolnshire coast, when I saw as many as eight in one day (mainly immature birds) which had been shot along the Humber coast. In the stomach of one was a quantity of fine sand, and many small shells of the genus Buccinum. The muscular coat of the stomach in this species is remarkably thick and strong, and apparently capable of digesting any tough morsel. 209. ANAS CLYPEATA, Linnaeus. The Shoveller. The Shoveller is by no means a rare Duck in the Humber district, as may be inferred from the fact that between the years 1833-34 to 1867-68, 35 years, 285 were taken on the small decoy of Ashby-on-the- Trent, North Lincolnshire. The largest number captured in any one year was in the winter of 1860- 61, namely 34. These, however, represent only a portion of the Shovellers visiting the Ashby pond during that period, as many of the flocks would leave again without entering the nets. In the winter of 1868-69 a flock of sixteen, principally males, fre- quented the decoy waters for some days; and none of these were captured. Mr. Boulton has had several specimens shot on the river Hull, and says that it has occasionally been known to breed amongst the sedgy and more retired portion of that river, and would do so more frequently, BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 161 but for the too numerous gunners which frequent the towing-path *. These Ducks, I am told by those who have had opportunities of watching them, have a curious habit of swimming round and round each other in circles, with the head and neck depressed to the surface of the water ; this they will do for hours together. Colonel Montagu f had a remarkably small pair of Shovellers sent him from a Lincolnshire decoy the male, although fat, weighing only seventeen ounces, the female not more than ten and a half (less than a Teal). 210. ANAS STREPERA, Linnaeus. Gadwall. One of the rarest of our Ducks. Only twenty-two are recorded in the Ashby book as taken in the decoy between the winters of 1833-34 and 1867-68 inclu- sive, three being the largest number in any one year. Mr. Boulton had a male in his collection obtained in Lincolnshire about eight years since. Another, now in the possession of Mr. Hoare, of Tranby Park, was shot at S kerne, near Beverley, on the last day in January 1871. * The Shoveller also nests annually, as Mr. Boynton informs me, on Hornsea Mere. t Diet. Brit. Birds, p. 303. 162 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 211. ANAS ACUTA, Linnaeus. Common Pintail. Provincial. Sea-pheasant. In severe winters this most beautiful and elegant species is not uncommon in the Humber ; and Mr. Boulton remarks*, specimens frequently find their way into the Hull market with other Ducks shot by the punt-men on the river. The Ashby decoy book records 278 Pintails as taken in 35 years 54 of these in the winter of 1834- 35, and no less than the extraordinary number of 74 in that of 1839-40. Is mentioned in Mr. Alington's listf of the birds occasionally resorting to Croxby pond on the North Wolds. 212. ANAS BOSCHAS, Linnaeus. Common Wild Duck. Provincial. Mallard. (Common to both the male and female.) Universally distributed throughout North Lincoln- shire and Holderness, nesting on several private waters. A few pairs also nest annually in the Hum- ber marshes. They sometimes choose odd situations for their nests : thus in 1870, in the Habrough marshes, a pair nested on the roof of a bean-stack, and in 1869 (probably the same pair) brought off" a brood on the top of a straw-stack. The usual nesting- place is on the ground in some clover- or corn-field, and not far from a drain or stream. In thirty-five * Zoologist, 1865, p. 9595. t Naturalist, 'January 1852, p. 5. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 163 years, from 1833-34 to 1867-68, according to the very carefully kept record at Ashby, the large number of 48,664 was taken in the nets. The most captured in any one year was in the winter of 1834-35, 4287 ducks and drakes*. In former days Lincolnshire was preeminently distinguished above all other counties for its wild fowl, and its many valuable duck decoys afforded a considerable source of revenue to the owners f. I am only aware of one at present existing in this district, that, previously alluded to, of Ashby, near the river Trent. Four famous decoys, * This, however, is a small number compared with the cap- tures in some of the Lincolnshire decoys in former days. Mr. Pennant mentions 31,200 taken in one season in decoys in the neighbourhood of Wainfleet, and that 2646 Mallards, or drakes, were taken in two days near Spalding. In these times a flock of Wild Ducks has been observed passing along from the north and north-east into the East Fen in a continuous stream for eight hours together. t Camden, speaking of the dwellers in the Fens near Croy- land, says : " Their greatest gain is from the fish and wild ducks that they catch, which are so many, that in August they can drive at once into a single net 3000 ducks ; they call these pools their cornfields, for there is no corn grown within five miles. For this liberty of taking fish and fowl they formerly paid to the Abbot of Croyland, as they do now to the King, three hundred pounds sterling." By the code of Fen laws, or orders for regulating the Fens, passed at the great inquest of the Soke of Bolingbroke, in the 2nd Edward VI. (1548), it was decreed that no person should use any sort of net, or other engines, to take or kill any fowl commonly called moulted ducks, in any of the fens, before Mid- summer-day yearly." 164 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. those of Walton, Scarborough, Home, and Meaux, in the East Riding, ceased to be used about the com- nencement of the present century. The Wild Duck nests about the middle of April ; and I have known the young strong on the wing by the end of July. During the time the Ducks are sitting the drakes pack together and frequent the nearest piece of water. In one summer, about ten years ago, I am told that eleven drakes, probably representing as many sitting Ducks, came daily into the Ashby pond. This species is subject to considerable variety. In the 'Zoologist' for 1864, p. 9047, I have described an abnormally coloured female killed on the Humber near Ferriby Sluice, having the entire plumage made up of pale tints, buffs and greys, and with a complete absence of the speculum, or beauty spot, on the wing. Another, also a female, which I killed in the Stallin- borough marshes, differed from the ordinary type in having the plumage some shades darker, and on the lower neck and portion of the breast had a crescent- shaped spot of pure white*. Several varieties of the Common Duck have at various times been seen and captured on the Ashby Decoy. I am informed that one Duck, conspicuous from having a white neck, spent eight winters there. And there was also a curiously spotted Duck which visited it regularly for four or five years. I have seen others from Ashby * Zoologist, 1869, p. 1906. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 165 having the entire underpart suffused with a deep and rich rufous, or vinous tint. 213. QUERQUEDULA ciRCiA (Linnaeus). Garganey Teal An occasional spring visitant, arriving in April. I have no notice of its having ever remained to breed with us. Mr. Alington says that several have been shot at one time or the other in the neighbourhood of Swinhope. It occasionally occurs at Flamborough*, and in the Humber in the spring. Early in April 1870 Mr. F. Hoare obtained a pair, male and female, on the river. In the ' Zoologist ' for 1870, p. 2144, Mr. Boyes has recorded three males and one female shot on the river Hull in March, and on the 20th of April another male. In the same neighbourhood in 1871 (see 'Zoologist/ 1871, p. 2644) a fine male was shot by a farmer named Grant on the 20th of April in a partly flooded meadow near the river ; it was accompanied by a female, which was also shot a few days afterwards by the same person ; both birds were in beautiful plumage. A pair or two of Garganeys usually visited the decoy at Ashby nearly every spring ; and twenty are recorded as captured there within twenty years. I am not aware of any occur- * Mr. Boulton had a specimen, a male, shot at Flamborough, on the 19th of March. 166 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. rence of this Duck either in North Lincolnshire or Holderness in the autumn*. 214. QUERQUEDULA CRECCA (Linnaeus). The Teal. This pretty little Duck is one of the earliest as well as the most regular of those which visit us in the autumn. It arrives in small companies in September, and occasionally as early as the middle of August, resort- ing to the freshwater streams, drains, and ponds, often in company with Wigeon. Later in the season, in November, there are usually other arrivals; and in severe winters, on the occurrence of long-continued frost and snow, large flocks, driven probably from some northern station, visit the Hum- ber and the open drains and "blow-wells" in the marshes. 44,568 were taken in thirty-five years at Ashby, 3279 alone in the winter of 1852-53. The male bird is very late in assuming the full plumage after the autumnal moult. We rarely obtain one in the adult dress before January. 215. ANAS PENELOPE, Linnaeus. Wigeon. Provincial. Smee or Smeed, Whew-duck, Whistler, Whist- ling Duck. The Wigeon is the commonest Duck we have in * Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., has a pair, male and female, re- ceived in the flesh from Mr. Jones, of Bridlington Quay. They were shot on the 1st of June, 1868, flying along the edge of the sea near that place. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 167 x the Humber. Small flocks, or, rather, family parties, generally appear on our ponds and streams very early in the autumn (in September), the main body arriving later in the season (in November) . It is particularly a river Duck, resting or sleeping on the water off the coast during the daytime. In the evening, when the tide permits, they are all activity, resorting in large bodies to the Zostera beds on the mud-flats. Although much more numerous in this district than either the Wild Duck or the Teal, it is far less frequently met with on our freshwater drains and ponds. This is particularly apparent when we refer to the Ashby decoy book ; for, whereas in thirty-five years 93,232 Ducks and Teal were captured in the nets, during the same period only 2019 Wigeons were taken *. A large proportion of the Wigeon visiting the Humber in winter are males. This I have ascer- tained by a frequent use of the telescope, as well as from the fact that a much larger proportion of males than females fall to the guns of our coast shooters. Mr. Boulton (Zoologist, 1865, p. 9528) remarks, * The reverse appears to be the case in the south of England ; for Colonel Montagu says : u More are caught in the decoys of Somersetshire and Devonshire than Duck, Teal, and all other wild fowl collectively, as we are assured by an old and experi- enced decoy-man. The same person asserts that Wigeon and Teal rarely assemble together in the pool, nor frequently with Duck; but when Ducks come to the pool, Teal frequently follow." 168 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. " The Wigeons shot on the Hull river are usually male birds, either old or young ; a real mature female is quite a rara avis." Like the Teal it is late in winter before the Wigeon assumes his full breeding-plumage. They pair about the middle of February*, and leave the Humber in March. I have seen them on the river in the first week in April. 216. SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA (Linnaeus). Eider Duck. This oceanic Duck occasionally occurs in small numbers, principally young birds, at sea off the York- shire and Lincolnshire coast in the autumn and winter. Their appearance in the Humber is quite an exceptional occurrence, being, along with other wild fowl, driven in by stress of weather. Numerous on the Northumberland coast, where they breed both at Coquet Island and on the Fame Isles f. * On the 27th of January, 1869, 1 saw a flock of forty males, all in full plumage, off the mouth of the Great-Cotes Creek. On the 15th of February a large flock, seen near the same place, was composed of males and females swimming in pairs. t These are the most southern breeding-stations of the Eider. This Duck, as well as the allied species, & spectdbilis, nest very far north. Both were found by Dr. Kane on the shores of the open Polar Sea, near Mount Edward Parry, the most remote northern land known on our globe. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 169 217. SOMATERIA STELLERI (Pallas) . Steller's Western Duck. A specimen of this very rare Arctic Duck, a male, assuming the winter plumage, was shot at Filey, Yorkshire, on the ]5th of August, 1845*. 218. (EDEMIA FUSCA (Linnaeus) . Velvet Scoter. Provincial. Black Duck. I have met with the Velvet Scoter at sea off the Yorkshire coast and Flamborough Head in the autumn. It is, however, much less common than its congener the Common Scoter, keeping far out at sea even in the roughest weather; is rarely found within the Humbert- 219. (EDEMIA NIGRA (Linnaeus). Common Scoter. Provincial. Black Duck, Mussel Duck. Immense migratory flocks of these Ducks visit us in the autumn and winter, and at these seasons may be found along the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire sea- boards as well as within the H umber. In very severe winters they occasionally visit our inland ponds and waters. They remain off the coast throughout the * Zoologist for 1846, p. 1249. t Mr. St. John (Nat. Hist, and Sport in Moray, p. 270) says, u The Velvet Duck never approaches very near the shore in this county, but seems to live wholly on the water, where it floats high, and appears to pay little regard to wind and waves, swimming at its ease in the roughest water." 1 170 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. winter, feeding daily in the shallow water inshore, or over some of the many sandbanks which fringe the Lincolnshire coast. They are always especially numerous off the Haile Sand, opposite Donna Nook, as well as Glee-Ness, both which places are very favourite feeding- grounds of the " Black Ducks." The Scoter is a late nester, and they do not leave us to go northward till rather late in the spring ; in backward seasons I have observed them linger about the river up to the first week in May. A flock ex- amined through a powerful telescope on the fourth of that month in 1868 was entirely composed of adults, males and females swimming together in pairs. Many, presumedly the young of the preceding year, do not go northward to breed, but remain in consider- able numbers on our coasts throughout the summer. In May we find flocks of Scoters in the Humber still in the immature plumage, or, rather, changing from the immature dress to one resembling the adult. They have still the grey cheeks and throat of the first plu- mage; and in some the underparts have a mottled appearance, brown and white. By the end of June these have acquired a dress resembling the adult, but differing in depth of colouring, the young females having a lighter or more chocolate-brown tint than the mature birds ; and the males have altogether a greyer and duller look, and not that beautiful glossy black we see in the adult. In this plumage they may easily be mistaken for the adult bird. These BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 171 "summer flocks are composed of nearly equal numbers of males and females. In July I have sometimes seen flocks of apparently old male Scoters off the mouth of the Humber without any females amongst them. These may be either barren birds or, what is more probable, old males returning southward from their breeding-haunts before the females and young. 220. FULIGULA RUFINA (Pallas). Red-crested Whistling Duck. I am aware of no recent appearance of this very rare Duck in this county. Mr. Yarrell* has recorded the occurrence of a male shot near Boston in January 1826, while feeding in fresh water in company with some Wigeons. This is not the first recorded British specimen; a Norfolk example, as Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., in- forms me, is mentioned in Hunt's f British Ornitho- logy' (Norwich, 1815), and therefore takes priority of Mr. YarrelFs Lincolnshire birdf. 221. FULIGULA FERINA (Linnaeus). Common Pochard. Provincial. Poker Duck, Blue Poker. By no means common on the Humber. In severe winters I have met with specimens in our freshwater * Zool. Journ. vol. ii. p. 492. t From Breydon Harbour, Norfolk, July 1818; also two, same harbour, winter 1820, Hunt, in Stacey's 'Norfolk/ vol. i. p. Ixiii. (see also Harting, < Handbook of British Birds/ 1872, p. 159). i 2 172 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. ponds and drains ; but we always consider it a rare Duck, and it is seldom killed by any of our numerous gunners. The specimens I have obtained during the last ten years are either females or young birds of the year,, the mature male being quite exceptional. This species is occasionally met with in the autumn and winter on Croxby Lake and other inland waters in North Lincolnshire. The Pochard nests annually on Hornsea Mere, in Holderness, also formerly on the Mere near Scar- borough. 222. FULIGULA FERRUGINEA (Gmelm) . Ferruginous Duck. Mr. Yarrell, in his ' British Birds/ vol. iii. p. 338, says, " I have seen examples of all ages that were procured in the London Market ; these are generally received from the eastern counties, between the Thames and the Humber." I have no recent notice of the capture of this rare species either in Lincolnshire or Holderness. 223. FULIGULA MARILA (Linnaeus). The Scaup Duck. Provincial. Black Scaup, Black Poker Duck. One of the commonest of our Humber Ducks, arriving late in the autumn, about the first week in November, in considerable numbers on the river and along the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire seaboard. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 173 . Are usually the last of the Ducks to leave our waters in the spring. I have seen them off the coast in this parish late in May, the very latest occurrence being a single bird, an old male, on the 24th of that month. These Ducks appear to keep in pairs, male and female, throughout the winter, as we invariably find them in mixed flocks composed of about equal numbers of males and females. The Scaup swims high in the water. They are very expert divers, remaining immersed even longer than the Golden- eye ; and I have frequently known them to continue underneath from fifty to sixty seconds. In the evening at dusk, and on moonlight nights, Scaups leave the water and fly up on the flats to feed ; they are then often killed by our gunners who are lying in wait on the muds for Wigeon and Mallard. 224. FULIGULA CRISTATA (Leach) . The Tufted Duck. Provincial. Brass-eyed Poker Duck. A common Duck in the Humber during the winter, but not as plentifully distributed as the preceding. Arrives considerably earlier in the autumn than the Scaup. I have seen and shot young birds on our drains as early as the first week in September. Speaking of this Duck (Zoologist, 1865, p. 9528), Mr. Boulton says, " I have invariably observed that it is the rarest circumstance possible to obtain a 174 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. mature female, all the birds being males, old and young, with now and then a young female." In the spring proceeds northward about the end of March or beginning of April, as a rule rather earlier than the Scaup Duck. I am strongly inclined to think that the Tufted Pochard has bred in this neighbourhood ; for I have seen very young birds shot early in the autumn, which could scarcely have come any distance. 225. HARELDA GLACIALIS (Linnaeus). The Long- tailed Duck, or Hareld. Provincial. Calloo, Long-tail, Ice-duck. Visits us in the winter. The mature male and female Ice-duck are rarely met with on this coast. They keep some distance out at sea, seldom approach- ing the shore, except in very severe weather. They are a shy bird, and most difficult of approach ; hence they are seldom seen in our markets. The immature bird is more common, and may be found in small parties, both in open and severe seasons. I have killed it in Bridlington Bay in October. It is a most expert swimmer, and will dive right through a heavy wave, coming out on the other side. Its quickness in the water makes it a very difficult bird to kill, as it will go under instantly at the flash. In the stomach of one which I examined, shot at Flamborough, were shrimps, many small shells of BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 175 V the genus Euccmum, and a few of the beautiful and delicate Patella pellucida. Amongst all the varied cries and calls of our numerous seafowl, that of the Hareld is the sweetest, most melancholy, and harplike ; heard from a distance at sea in the spring on a still day it is inexpressibly wild and musical. 226. CLANGULA GLAUCION (Linnaeus). The Golden-eye. Provincial. Rattle-wing. Except in unusually severe seasons, the Golden-eye can scarcely be considered a common Duck in the Humber. Small parties of young birds, having a preponderance of young males, with an occasional old female*, are met with each season, arriving in the Humber and along the coast about the middle of October. The mature male bird is always a rare capture, and seldom shot. These Ducks swim rather high in the water. They are expert divers. A fine old male, which I watched for nearly an hour on the 26th of January, 1869, swimming and diving in our creek, remained im- mersed, on the average, from forty-five to fifty seconds, continuing on the surface between each dive * Mr. Rodd, in the ' Zoologist ' for 1870, p. 2278, remarking on this species, says, l< The Golden-eyes that appear in the far west after and during severe weather are in the proportion of forty out of fifty in the female plumage, or perhaps in the plumage of the first year of each sex." 176 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. about twelve seconds, consequently spending four fifths of its time under water. A female shot on one of our marsh drains on February 10, 1870, had in the stomach a few shells of Physa fontinalis, a large mass of the water-larvae of Neuroptera, with a little vegetable fibre, probably swallowed along with the insects. The Golden-eyes pair early, about the same time as the Wigeon namely, early in February. They leave the district towards the end of March or early in April. 227. CLANGULA ALBEOLA (Linnaeus). Buffel- headed Duck. A beautiful mature male of this American Duck was shot in the winter of 1864-65 on the Bessingby beck, close to the town of Bridlington, by Richard Morris. It is now in the possession of Mr. Machin, bird-preserver, of that place *. 228. MERGUS ALBELLUS, Linnaeus. Smew. The old female and young birds are by no means uncommon on the river, as well as on our freshwater drains and becks in severe winters . The old male, how- ever, in his elegant and chaste plumage of green, black, and white, is extremely rare. Mr. Boulton, in the ' Zoologist ' for 1864, p. 8962, on the authority of Mr- George Wright, of York, has * I am indebted to Mr. Thomas Boynton, of Ulrome Grange, near Bridlington, for the notice of this rare capture. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 177 < recorded the occurrence of three mature males near that city. One of these, which came into Mr. Boulton's hands, had in its stomach five small roach, from three to five inches in length. One of a pair which I obtained in this parish on the 7th of January, 1871, was a mature female the ovary containing eggs as large as No. 4 shot, the gizzard fine vegetable fibres, quartz stones, and a feather. This bird had the black cheek-mark which is said to be characteristic only of the immature male. 229. MERGUS SERRATOR, Linnaeus. Red-breasted Merganser. Provincial. Sawbill. A winter visitant, but extremely rare. I have never met with it in North Lincolnshire"* or along the coast. Mr. Boulton had two in his collection, a male and female the male shot some years ago, the female about five years since. Both were shot in the win- ter, and, curiously enough, at the same bend of the river; and these are the only specimens he has known in that neighbourhood. * In-the < Zoologist' for 1871, p. 2526, Mr. Boyes, after re- marking on the numerous Goosanders shot on the river Hull during that winter, says, "Is it not singular that the Red- breasted Merganser, a species breeding rather commonly in some parts of Scotland, should be so rare here ? But such is really the case ; and no bird of the kind has 'been shot on the river, that I am aware of." i 5 178 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 230. MERGUS MERGANSER,, Linnseus. The Goosan- der. Provincial. Sawbill. This beautiful species, a winter visitant to this dis- trict, is met with in small numbers (principally, how- ever, immature birds), but is more common in some seasons than others. It was especially abundant in the severe winters of 1864-65, 1869-70, 1870-71. They not unfrequently occur near Beverley, in the winter, visiting the river Hull in small flocks. In the ' Zoologist ' for 1870, p. 2143, Mr. Boyes has recorded an adult male and two adult females, besides about twelve immature birds shot on this river in February. It was also plentiful in the same locality, in the winter of 1870-71, when several fine old males were shot, and more of them seen. A magnificent male, one of a pair, which I shot some years since in the winter, from a corner of the ' ' beck " in this parish, disgorged two trout, perfectly fresh and clean, and evidently only just swallowed one measuring seven, the other about five inches in length. NATATOEE8. COLYMHIDM. 231. PODICEPS CRISTATUS (Linnaeus) . Great Crested Grebe. Provincial. Gaunt. Formerly abundant, breeding in the fens of Lincoln- BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 179 . shire *. Occasionally occurs on Croxby Pond on our north wolds, but does not now breed in North Lincolnshire. Nests annually on Hornsea Mere, in the East Riding, where I have seen both the old and young birds in July. Mr. Boulton has had several speci- mens from that locality. 232. PODICEPS RUBRICOLLIS (Gmelin). Red-necked Grebe. Not so common as the last, but occurring every winter in limited numbers along the coast, between Flamborough Head and Spurn Point, also off the Lincolnshire coast. Is the most marine of any of the Grebes, and rarely obtained in the summer plu- mage ; young birds have red necks, but very different from the adults. In January 1865 I obtained a female taken alive in a pond in the parish of Barnoldby-le-beck. The same winter, in February, Mr. Boulton had three specimens of this Grebe in the flesh, all immature females, shot in East Yorkshire. 233. PODICEPS CORNUTUS (Gmelin). The Scla- vonian Grebf. Provincial. Small Diver. Excepting the little Dabchick, this is by far the * Colonel Montagu speaks of the Crested Grebe as indigenous in England, breeding in the fens of Lincolnshire and the merea of Shropshire and Cheshire. It has long ceased to do so in the 180 BIRDS OF THE HUMBEE DISTRICT. most numerous of the Grebes visiting the Humber. It occurs in the autumn in small flocks,, usually in the winter or "Dusky-Grebe" plumage, and in some years is rather numerous on the river. My friend, P. K. Seddon, Esq., informs me that in October 1869, when "laid to" near the mouth of the Humber, during a dense fog, he saw several of these Grebes diving in the vicinity of his yacht. It has been sometimes obtained in the Norfolk broads in full breeding-dress. I have never, however, met with it in this district otherwise than in winter plumage*. 234. PODICEPS AURITUS (Linnaeus) . The Eared Grebe. This Grebe, like its congeners, once bred in our fens. It now only occurs as a very rare and occasional visitant Mr. Boulton had a splendid old male in his collection, shot some years since near Selby ; also another, an immature female, shot on the river Hum- ber, near Hull (Zoologist, 1864, p. 9048). 235. PODICEPS MINOR (Gmelin). Little Grebe, or Dabchick. Tolerably numerous, nesting annually with us, former locality, but is still tolerably numerous on the Cheshire and Shropshire meres. * Colonel Montagu, writing of this Grebe under the name of the Dusky Grebe (Podiceps obscurus) says "it inhabits the tens of Lincolnshire, where it breeds, making a nest in the same manner as the Crested Grebe." BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 181 but is always much commoner in the winter months. In the autumn our resident birds receive considerable accessions to their numbers, arriving in October in small parties or flocks. Several have been seen to- gether at this season on the Humber, and even within the large basin of the Royal Dock at Grimsby. The little Grebe flies with reluctance, trusting mainly to its wonderful diving-powers to elude an enemy. When once on the wing, as I have had opportunities of judging, their flight is both rapid and well sustained. 236. COLYMBUS GLACIALIS, Linnaeus. Great Northern Diver. Provincial. Loon, Herring-Loon. Found every autumn and winter off our shores, generally birds in the immature and winter plumage. The adult in the breeding-dress is far less commonly met with. This fine species is well known to our fishermen as the Herring-Loon ; they keep principally to the open sea, but in very severe weather come occasionally within the river ; and several instances are recorded of their capture far inland. It is men- tioned in Mr. Alington's list of Croxby-pond birds *. Although strictly oceanic in its habits, it will, I have observed, when feeding, often come closer inshore than either the Black- throated or Red- throated Diver. * 'Naturalist/ January, 1852. 182 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. The Great Northern Diver arrives off our coasts very early in the autumn, sometimes by the middle of August, leaving again late in the spring. They nest in Iceland and in the extreme north, but, accor- ding to Mr. Wheelwright*, never breed in Scandi- navia, where they are only known as occasional win- ter visitants. Mr. Boulton had a fine mature female, shot on Hornsea Mere. 237. COLYMBUS ARCTICUS, Linnaeus. Black- throated Diver. Provincial. Herring-Loon. Occurs in the same situations and seasons as the preceding, but not nearly as numerously. Is not uncommon off the Flamborough coast in severe win- ters. Mr. Boulton had an old male, shot inland on the river Hull, also an immature specimen from the same locality. Captain Seddon has a very fine adult female in his collection, taken on the Humber on February the 16th, 1870. The black gular patch was then partly acquired. Unlike the preceding, the Black-throated Diver breeds all over Scandinavia, from the south of Scania to far up within the Arctic Circle. This, as well as the other Divers, is sometimes * Ten years in Sweden, p. 432. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 183 taken from getting entangled, whilst diving, in the submerged herring-nets of our fishermen. 238. COLYMBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS, Linnaeus. Red- throated Diver. P)'ovintial. Sprat-Loon, Speckled Loon. Of the three Divers, this is by far the most numerous, never entirely leaving the vicinity of our shores ; for I have met with them out at sea, and along the coast in every month of the year. In summer having the cochineal neck-patch character- istic of the breeding-plumage. In the autumn, in October, we find the young along the coast in the speckled plumage. Like the other Divers, they are always a very difficult bird to obtain, either diving or rising and flying off before a boat or yacht can come within gunshot. I have known a badly wounded Red-throated Diver, struggling on the water, go under just as a hand was extended to grasp him, and, what was most provoking, although the place was carefully marked, not reappear. NATATOEES. ALCIDA. 239. URIA TROILE (Linnaeus). Common Guillemot. Provincial. Willock, Scout, Flaniborough Scout. The common Guillemot, the most familiar of our sea-birds, nests annually in immense numbers on 184 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. the Speeton Cliffs at Flamborough, as well as on the Fame Isles. During the winter months it may be found in every part of the North Sea and occa- sionally within the Humber. Although not, as a rule, frequenting the neighbourhood of their breeding- haunts at this season, they are sometimes seen in considerable numbers off the Flamborough Cliff in November, becoming quite common in January. They commence nesting in May incubation lasting a month, the female sitting on a single egg placed on the bare rock, and incubating in an upright position. If the first egg is taken by the cliff- climbers, the old bird will lay another, and, I am told, if the plundering is repeated, will go on laying in succession as many as ten or twelve eggs. When the young are partly fledged, and even when they are quite little things, the old birds carry them down to the sea on their backs. This is done late in the evening, after sunset. The Flamborough boat- men say that when they are fishing under the Speeton Cliffs, on summer evenings, they have often observed this process of carrying the young down, the little fellow clinging to its parent's back, and not unfrequently tumbling from the somewhat precarious perch into the sea sooner than was intended. The Guillemots leave their breeding-stations about the middle of August ; several, however, leave much earlier than this date. I have seen the old birds with their half-fledged young, yet unable to fly, off BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT 185 the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coasts, also in the middle of the North Sea, during the second and third weeks in July. By the end of August both old and young have entirely forsaken the cliffs, and gone out sea- ward ; a stiff breeze from the E. or N.E. in this month is said to hasten the autumn migration, and to clear the rocks of their numerous tenants. During the nesting-season the Guillemot flies daily immense distances to and from its feeding-grounds, Flamborough birds going as far south as the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, and northward to the Durham coast, halfway between the Tees and Tyne, where they are joined by the Farn -Island birds. 240. URIA TROILE (var. LACRYMANS) . Ringed Guillemot. Provincial. Silver-eyed Scout. The Ringed Guillemot is not common at Flam- borough. I have seen it on one or two occasions on the Speeton Cliffs, in company with the Common Guillemot, but never more than a single bird in the course of the day. Before the passing of the "Sea-bird Preservation Act/' about half-a-dozen were shot annually at Flamborough*. * This variety of the Common Guillemot appears gradually to increase in numbers as we proceed northward. On the Farn Islands they are far more numerous than at Flamborough. Mr. Howard Saunders (Zoologist, 1866, p. 186) saw several on the "Pinnacles," during his visit to these islands in June 1865. On Ailsa Crag, Mr. R. Gray calculates the proportions as one 186 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 241. URIA GRYLLE (Linnaeus). Black Guillemot. Provincial. Greenland Dove. This pretty species is occasionally found in the neighbourhood of Flamborough and along the coast in the autumn, winter, and spring. I have met with it off our shores, in the mottled plumage, as late as the end of May. Mr. Boulton had three immature specimens within the last four years from the vicinity of Flamborough, and thinks it is becoming rare along the east coast. The Black Guillemot is a late breeder, going to nest a month later than the common species. 242. ALCA ALLE, Linnaeus. The Little Auk. This little Arctic bird is a winter visitant to the coasts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and in severe weather is sometimes seen within the Humber. There are numerous instances of the Little Auk occurring far inland, driven in by stress of weather. Mr. Boulton had two in the flesh, shot on the river Hull in the autumn of 1861 one late in October, in five hundred ; on the Isle of Handa, on the west of Suther- landshire, on the authority of Mr. Harvie Brown, as one in one hundred ; on Barra Head and the Stack of Lianamull, accord- ing to a most careful scrutiny by Mr. Harvie Brown and Captain Fielden, one in five (Gray's < Birds of the West of Scotland/ p. 426). The late Mr. Oassin (Birds of North America, p. 914) says "it is one of the mogt common birds of the higher northern latitudes on both sides of the continent." BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 187 the other on the 9th of November in that year. I have one in winter plumage, taken on the decoy at Ashby in the latter part of 1864. In the autumn of 1863 very large flocks of the Little Auk appeared off the coast of Durham and on the river Tees; and many were at that time procured*. 243. FRATERCULA ARCTICA (Linnaeus) . The Puffin. Provincial. Coulter-Neb, Sea-Parrot. Nests annually in immense numbers on the Flam- borough rocks. The Puffins do not arrive at their breeding-haunts until after the Guillemot, Razor- billed Auks, and Kittiwake Gulls. I have rarely met with any off the rocks before the middle of April, the main body, as a rule, not arriving at their nesting- stations before the first week in May, and commencing laying about the end of that month. Mr. Bailey, of Flamborough, says that he has occasionally met with Puffins off the cliffs in February. The fact is, as our fishermen have told me, some Puffins may be found far from land in the North Sea throughout the winter. In long-continued storms, like other sea-birds, they come nearer to the coast, and are then sometimes killedjwithin the Humber. * Mr. St. John, in his ' Natural History of Moray,' p. 4, says that " the Little Auk visits us at irregular intervals, and on these occasions generally comes in great numbers, being found at the mouth of every stream, and not unfrequently in ponds, or even lying disatyed and worn-out in fields some distance from the sea," 188 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. The Puffin lays but one egg, at the bottom of a deep crevice or hole in the cliff, the young, unlike those of the Guillemot, remaining in their holes and on the rocks till such time as they can fly down. By the middle of August the young and old have congregated in immense flocks, and usually before the end of the month entirely forsake the vicinity of the land, going seaward and southward. Later in the autumn we find them with Razor-bills and Guillemots off the estuary of the Humber and along the Lincolnshire coasts. 244. ALCA TORDA, Linnaeus. Razor-billed Auk. Provincial. Marrot. Like the preceding, nests annually at Flamborough, but not nearly in such numbers as either the Puffin or Guillemot. The Razor-billed Auk arrives in the vicinity of its breeding-stations rather earlier than the Guillemot. At Mamborough they are sometimes seen near the rocks in December, like the Guillemot becoming common in January. I am told that, from some cause or other, compara- tively very few nested at Flamborough in the summer of 1871 ; and the cliff-climbers say they took very few eggs. During a three days' visit which I made to that headland in the first week of August I did not observe more than half-a-dozen of these birds. Yet, in the preceding summer, 1870, on the 18th of BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 189 May, we met with great numbers of Razor-bills on the sea between the Headland and Spurn Point; next to the Guillemot they then appeared to be the most numerous species along the Holderness coast. The Razor-bills flock together and go out to sea, as well as southward, in September; both the old and young are always plentiful off the Humber throughout the autumn months. Like the Guillemot they have been seen to carry their young on their backs from the cliff to the sea*. NATATORES. PELECANIDJE. 245. PHALACROCORAX CARBO (Linnaeus). Common Cormorant. Provincial. Scart or Scarf. The Cormorant formerly nested on the rocks at Flamborough, but was finally driven away by the ceaseless persecutions of summer excursionists coming from the neighbouring watering-places I have lately seen it off the Headland in July. The nearest breeding-station to the Humber is now, as far as I am aware, that on the North Wamses, on the Farn Islands, where it nests plentifully. * The Rev. S. Baring-Gould, in 'Iceland its Scenes and Sagas,'p. 244, says," Another bird which lays upon the shelves of Drangey, is the Razor-bill (Aka torda), called in Icelandic Alka ; the mother bird is said to take her young on her back, and bear them down to the water j then she dives, and leaves them to take their first lesson in swimming by themselves." 190 BIRDS OF THE HTJMBER DISTRICT. Is not uncommon off the Yorkshire and Lincoln- shire coasts in the spring, autumn and winter, more especially off that part of the coast between Lin- colnshire and Norfolk known as the Wash, where several of these weird birds may sometimes be seen together, crowding the top of one of the numerous buoys marking the channels through these waters. Mr. Boulton says it has occasionally occurred with them inland on the river Hull, and that three or four have been shot as they rested on the lofty walls and towers of the beautiful Minster of Beverley. Indeed this species appears to be partial to perching on lofty and commanding situations. One was killed in May, 1862, whilst sitting on the pinnacles of Louth church, Lincolnshire; and an- other also, as Mr. Alington informs me, on the church- tower of West Rasen. The Cormorant not unfrequently visits inland waters, as large lakes and a meres/' and has been seen on Croxby Lake, on the North Wolds. 2i6. PHALACROCORAX GRACULUS (Linnseus). Green Cormorant. Provincial. Black Scarf, Shag. Compared with the last, the Green Cormorant is rather an uncommon species. It not unfrequently occurs at Flamborough in the autumn, principally immature birds, on their passage up the coast from BIRDS OP THE HUMBEB DISTRICT. 191 some of their northern breeding-stations. I now know of no nesting-station of the Shag on the east coast of England. A pair or two nested recently on the Farn Islands. Mr. William Brown, in a visit made to these islands in June 1866 (Zoologist, 1866, p. 484), says that " three pairs had nested and laid their eggs, but were unfortunately shot by the fishermen/' Now that the seafowl are protected during the nesting- season by an Act of Parliament, it is to be hoped that the Cormorants will return to their old quarters. Mr. Boulton had several Green Cormorants, from the Yorkshire coast as well as from inland waters. They are, however, I consider, more oceanic birds than the common species, and occur less often on fresh water. 247. SULA BASSANA (Linnaeus). The Gannet. The nearest breeding-station of the Gannets to the Humber is that on the Bass rock at the mouth of the Firth of Forth *. The birds, therefore, found off our coast are in all probability wanderers from this or some more northern nesting-station. They may occasionally be met with in great numbers off Flam- borough Head and along the coast in the autumn, both mature birds and immature in the dark spotted plumage the former, however, as far as my * Mr. R. Gray (Birds of the West of Scotland, p. 460), says, 11 it is believed, on a moderate calculation, the number on the Bass rock may be set down at 20,000." .V ' * ;- . \ "'-,,. * \. *. 192 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. experience goes, considerably in excess of the young birds. Several instances are recorded of the Gannet having been captured far inland, both in Lincolnshire and Holderness, probably storm-driven birds. Mr. Morris in his ' British Birds/ on the authority of Miss Bickaby, of Bridlington Quay, narrates the following singular occurrence : " On the 22nd day of April, 1838, after exceeding stormy snowy weather for two or three days before, an old full-feathered Gannet was found dead on Swainby Moor, in Cleveland, about twenty miles from the sea- coast. This bird had evi- dently been driven that same night inland by the force of a tremendous wind from the north-east, and had flown in a state of blindness as long as strength lasted, it being found scarcely stiff, and with about two inches and a quarter of the sharp beak, or snout, of the Gar- fish forced into one eye, leaving only about half an inch visible." NATATOEES. LARIDJE. 248. STERNA CASPIA, Pallas. Caspian Tern. This fine species, the largest of the European Terns, has occurred on several occasions on the eastern coast of England. One specimen recorded by Mr. Yarrell was shot at Caythorpe, near Grantham, in the south of Lincolnshire, in May, 1853 (see also Zool. p. 3946). This Tern is said to have nested annually on the BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 193 island of Sylt, off the coast of Denmark. I can find no notice of its having done so recently. 249. STERNA CANTIACA, Gmelin. Sandwich Tern. Provincial. Great Sea-Swallow. Not uncommon off the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coasts in the autumn, when flocks appear on their passage southward. I have seen it at this period at Spurn, in company with the Arctic and common species. These Terns breed in considerable numbers on the Farn Islands, also on Coquet Island, off the North- umberland coast*. They make no nest, but deposit their two eggs in a slight hollow on the ground. The Sandwich Tern is the first to move southward along the coast in the autumn, which they do in large flocks, both old and young together, about the middle of August, preceding both the Arctic and Common Terns in their autumn migration. This species, I have found, feeds much on the common sand-launce. 250. STERNA DOUGALLI i, Montagu. Roseate Tern. I am aware of no recent occurrence of this beautifu and chastely coloured Tern on our coasts. A few * They also nested not many years since on some rocky islets near the Bass Rock off the mouth off the Firth of Forth ; but Mr. R. Gray, in his ' Birds of the West of Scotland,' says that they have now quite deserted this place. 194 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. pairs formerly nested on the Farn Islands ; but it is now quite extinct in that locality. Eggs of the Roseate Tern taken on the Farn Islands are in the Berwick Museum. There are also authen- ticated eggs and a nestling at Twizell House, near Belford (Mr. Selby's). 251. STERNA FLUVIATILIS, Naumann. Common Tern. Provincial. Sea-Swallow, Tarrock, Sparling. Less frequent than formerly, and not nearly so Common as its name would imply. Arrives off the coast about the last week in April or early in May. I have sometimes, in very stormy weather, met with them in large flocks within the Humber early in the autumn, in September ; but their presence within our river, except on these special occasions, is quite ex- ceptional. Formerly nested in some numbers on the Lincoln- shire coast, where a few pairs still annually breed, but very few compared with what I am told was the case thirty or forty years since. The Common Tern nests also annually on the Farns, on the same islands and in society with the more numerous Arctic Tern. 252. STERNA HIRUNDO, Linnaeus. Arctic Tern. This is by far the most numerous of the Terns visiting, our coast. It is closely allied to the so- BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 195 called common species; but the mature bird may readily be distinguished from it by its uniform red bill, which in the Common Tern is tipped with black, by its shorter tarsi, longer tail, extending beyond the closed wings, as well as the uniform slaty-grey of the underparts. They nest in considerable numbers on the Farn Islands, where they exceed the common species as ten to one*, also on Coquet Island; a few pairs also continue to nest annually in two or three localities on the Lincolnshire coast. They are common in the autumn in the neighbourhood of Flamborough, as well as at Spurn Point, where I have met with them in considerable flocks, and far in excess of the pre- ceding species. The Arctic Tern, as its name implies, ranges very far north. It was observed by Dr. Kane on the shores of the open Polar Sea. 253. STERNA MINUTA, Linnaeus. Lesser Tern. Provincial. Small Sea-Swallow. This beautiful and delicate-looking little creature, the smallest of our English Terns, nests annually at Spurn Point, but in greatly reduced numbers, the Act for the Protection of Sea-Fowl fortunately coming just in time to prevent its complete extinction f. * See " Notes on the Fame Isles," by Mr. W. Brown (Zoolo- gist, 1866, p. 484). t It is satisfactory to know that since the passing of the Act the Lesser Terns have considerably increased in this locality. K2 196 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Some years since I met with several pairs during the summer on the Lincolnshire coast near SkegnesSj, where it bred ; but I am afraid it is nearly, if not quite, extinct there *. The Lesser Tern arrives at Spurn in May, leaving again in October ; I have met with it there as late as the end of the second week in that month. 254. STERNA FISSIPES, Linnaeus. Black Tern. Mr. Pennant (1771), in his ' British Zoology/ speak* of the Black Tern as found during spring and summer in vast numbers in the fens of Lincolnshire, and says that " they make an incessant noise, and feed as well on flies as water insects and small fish." Colonel Montagu f, in the early part of the present century, " observed great numbers of Black Terns in the fens of Lincolnshire during the breeding-season, and could not discern any difference in plumage between the sexes : many that had no white on the head were opened, and males as well as females as- certained. About the middle of May this species prepares a nest of flags or broad grass, in the most marshy places, upon a tuft just above the surface of the water and lays almost invariably four eggs, weighing about three drams each." * Colonel Montagu (Diet. Brit. Birds, p. 344), writing on the Lesser Tern, says : " On the coast of Lincolnshire it appears to exceed the other (Sterna hirundo], especially about Skegness. At that place we sometimes observed three eggs together ; for they make 110 nest," f Diet. Brit. Birds, p. 340. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 197 On the drainage of the Fens, and consequent de- struction of their breeding- quarters, they forsook the county ; and I am not aware that there is now any nesting-place of this species in Lincolnshire. Mr. Alington, however, has seen them of late years in the neighbourhood of Boston during the summer ; so that it is possible some few pairs may still annually continue to nest with us*. It is not uncommon on our shores in the autumn, principally immature birds; but occasionally we meet with mature specimens in the black or sooty plumage. Mr. Boulton has had several, both in the mature and immature plumage, killed during the autumn at Spurn or the neighbourhood of Flamborough. Se- veral were observed in the neighbourhood of that Headland in the spring of 1867. 255. STERNA LEUCOPTERA, Meisner and Schinz. White-winged Black Tern. In the spring of 1867 a single mature bird of this beautiful Mediterranean Tern was seen for some days in the neighbourhood of Flamborough. It was not, however, procured. In the same year, on the 27th of June, a very fine adult male was shot on Hickling Broad, Norfolk. The Rev. R. Lubbock, in his ( Fauna of Norfolk/ 1845, says that eggs of the Black Tern had been recently obtained at Crow- land Wash in Lincolnshire. 198 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 256. LARUS SABINI (Leach) . Sabine's Gull. A fine female, in the second winter's plumage, of this rare Arctic Gull, now in Sir H. Boynton's col- lection, was shot in Bridlington Bay in the first week of September 1867. Mr. Boulton received this bird in the flesh, and states (Zoologist, 1867, p. 544) that the inside of the mouth was brilliant orange-red, irides dark blackish brown, legs and feet blackish grey on the outer sur- faces, leaden grey or dusky on their inner surface, also on the webs. On the 10th of August, 1872, a Sabine's Gull, said to be in full summer plumage, was shot from a flock of Terns in Bridlington Bay (Zool. 1872, p. 3316). 257. LARUS MINUTUS, Pallas. Little Gull. This, the smallest of our Gulls, has frequently occurred in the last ten years on the east coast in the latter part of the year. In the autumn of 1868 Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., received no less than thirteen in the flesh, all shot in the neighbourhood of Elamborough. The same year, on the 13th of July, he also obtained an adult female in full breeding-plumage from the same locality *. * Mr. Gurney says this Little Gull was shot by Mr. Bailey, of Flamborough, along with four Kittiwakes, beating for food at the time at sea, two miles south of the Head. The legs were brilliant red; iris dark brown; bill deepest blood- red, almost black j mouth dull red j breadth of web 1| inch ; BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 199 The winter of 1869-70 was remarkable for the large number of Little Gulls captured along our eastern seaboard. After a terrific three days' gale from the east on the 12th, 13th, and 14th of February, no less than twenty-nine were shot on the coast near Bridlington ; of these, nineteen were old birds in full winter plumage, and ten young in the immature dress. All these birds were shot a few miles south of Flamborough Head, none occurring north, or in the immediate neighbourhood of the Headland. On the 16th of February in the same year Mr. Bond saw eleven specimens of the Little Gull in Leaden- hall Market, eight of them adult (Zoologist, 1870, p. 2066) *. 258. LARUS RIDIBUNDUS, Linnaeus. Black-headed Gull Provincial. Pewit Gull. This familiar species, the most tern-like of the genus, is the common Gull of the Humber, and more numerous in some seasons than all the rest of our Gulls put together. They have greatly increased in this district during the last ten years. numerous feathers sprouting all over the body ; female, by dis- section j hatching-spots very apparent. * In a paper which appeared in the l Transactions of the Nor- folk and Norwich Naturalists' Society,' 1870-71, Mr. Stevenson gays that, as far as he can judge, over sixty specimens of this Gull were killed along the Norfolk coast in the month of Feb- ruary 1870. 200 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Early in the year, about the end of February or beginning of March, they assemble in constantly increasing numbers on the Humber flats. They leave the district again towards the end of that month and through April, the old adult birds and the young of the preceding years as well, to go inland, the for- mer to their breeding-stations. April and May are spent inland, in the neighbourhood of the great nest- ing stations. Generally, however, in the latter part of May, we still find some in our marshes, and on the Humber foreshores, apparently adult birds; these may be either barren birds, or probably, as has been sug- gested by Mr. Blake-Knox in the 'Zoologist' for 1866, p. 361, birds in the third summer plumage, closely resembling the adult the Brown-headed Gull, like the other Laridse, not breeding till the fourth summer. By the last week in June many of the old birds have returned to the vicinity of the coast, accompanied by the young of the year ; and by the middle of July we find them by thousands, both on the Humber and the adjoining marshes, where they sit for hours to- gether in large flocks, nestling on the dry fallows and pasture-lands, using the same place day after day, till the land, from the immense number of moulted feathers scattered about, looks as if a flock of Geese had been plucked upon it. After July and throughout the autumn, they keep almost exclusively to the river and mud-flats, and all through August and September are found in large mixed flocks in BIRDS OF THE HUMBEB DISTRICT. 201 every part of the Humber and its shores. When October comes, they begin to move southward along the coast, this autumnal movement being regulated by the severity or mildness of the season ; with a continuation of fine open weather they sometimes remain to the end of November. A large proportion of the birds belonging to this district do, sooner or later in the autumn, leave our coast for some more southern station. Many, how- ever, remain throughout the winter; but at this season it is by no means a common species. There is a large and celebrated breeding-station of these Gulls on Sir John Nelthorpe's estate at Twigmoor, near Brigg. A Yorkshire nesting-station was formerly Hornsea Mere, close to the Holderness coast j but no Gulls have now bred there for some years*. I have frequently observed these Gulls, by hun- dreds together, hawking over our marshes for insects, * Colonel Montagu (Diet. Brit. Birds, p. 150) says : "In some of the fens in Lincolnshire they are plentiful in the breeding- reason, inhabiting the most swampy parts, along with Snipes, Redshanks, and Ruffs, whose nests are intermixed amongst the high tufts of bog-grass. The Gulls trample down the grass upon the tumps, and thus form a place on which they deposit their eggs, and sit isolated, each on its own little island, about a foot or more above the surface of the water or swamp. Thus raised from the surface, they are seen at a considerable distance, and can equally observe the approach of an enemy, and conse- quently are difficult to be shot." K 5 202 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. such as the crane fly, also amongst the autumnal swarms of winged ants*. They not unfrequently perch on gates and rails. The Pewit-Gull is an unfailing weather prophet, "When they soar high and fly round in circles, it is a certain sign of wind and rain within four-and -twenty hours. I hardly ever knew this indication fail. 259. LARUS TRIDACTYLUS, Linnseus. Kittiwake Gull. From time immemorial, this beautiful and chastely coloured Gull has nested on the magnificent coast of Flamborough, at that part of the Headland known as the Speeton Cliffs. They arrive in the neighbourhood of the rocks early in the year, commencing nesting towards the end of May or beginning of June the birds of the preceding summer, in the second and third year's plumage, remaining during this period out at sea, following the shoals of fish, and seldom approaching the Headland or consorting with the adults. From the middle to the end of August the adults, along with their young, assemble in large flocks and move up the coast southward. Like the preceding species, however, many are still found along our eastern sea- board, and in every part of the North Sea during the winter. * See ' Zoologist' for 1865, p. 9802, and 1869, a. s. p. 1905. BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 203 260. LARUS EBURNEUS, Gmelin. Ivory Gull. No recent occurrence of this Arctic Gull * . One which was obtained in the neighbourhood of Scar- borough is mentioned by Mr. Yarrell. Mr. Boulton informs me, that many years since he examined a mature specimen of this Gull that was shot on the east coast of Yorkshire, 261. LARUS CANUS, Linnaeus. Common Gull. Provincial. Sea-Mew. Less common than its name would imply. It is the common Gull of the Humber only in the autumn and winter, at which seasons flocks leave the river every morning at daybreak and proceed inland, often going twenty or thirty miles to their feeding- grounds on the high wolds, returning again late in the afternoon to the river, where they spend the night. During these daily excursions to and from the coast they usually fly in the same order and conformation as wild geese, and higher or lower according to the state of the weather. In the spring they proceed northward to their nesting-stations. Those which we see in the river * Nests in the Arctic regions. It was seen by Dr. Kane on the shores of the Polar Sea, near Mount Edward Parry. Dr. Hayes, speaking of the boldness and rapacity of this Arctic species, says, "I have seen the Ivory Gull seize our wounded Auks, and after a sharp battle, carry them off in her talons. A novel use of a palmated foot." (Hayes, 'Open Polar Sea.') 204 BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. during the summer months are birds in the second and third year's plumage. 262. LARUS LEUCOPTERUS, Faber. Iceland Gull. This is another of the Arctic Gulls which occasion- ally visit our eastern seaboard in the autumn and winter. It has in these seasons been killed near Flamborough Head, although almost without ex- ception in the young or immature garb. In size and appearance it approaches the Herring- Gull, but may readily be distinguished by having the quill feathers all white, without any black tips. I have only once seen the Iceland Gull within the Humber, on the 18th of April, 1872 an unusually late occurrence for one to be seen so far south. This was an immature bird, but apparently fast putting on the mature dress. There was not a dark spot in the plumage. The head, neck, tail, primaries and underparts white ; the back and wing-coverts had a bluish-grey tinge, but broken with pale yellowish brown, giving these parts a dirty clay-stained ap- pearance. 263. LARUS FUSCUS, Linnaeus. Lesser Black-backed Gull Much more plentiful than formerly. Ten years ago we used to consider it rather a rare Gull in the river ; now it is of very common occurrence. These Gulls may be found on the Humber through- BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 205 out the year j the mature birds only in the autumn, winter, and early spring. In the summer, those birds of this species which we see off the coast are in the second and third year's plumage, and not yet breeding. The mature birds leave the river to go northward about the end of March or commencement of April ; and we find them again on the river-flats early in July, in company with the young of the year. I have seen large numbers at Spurn and off the mouth of the Humber in August, as many as seventy or eighty together. These flocks are composed of the old birds and their young, the Gulls in the second and third year's plumage still keeping apart. The Lesser Black-backed Gull nests annually in large numbers on the Earn Islands, and is a very common species on the coast of Northumberland. 264. LARUS ARGENTATUS, Gmelin. Herring-Gull. A common Gull in the river and along the coast. Like the preceding, it leaves us in the spring for its northern breeding- stations. Nests on the cliffs near Filey, also on the Farh Islands, but not nearly so plentifully as the Lesser Black-backed Gull. Nests also on the Berwickshire coast, near St. Abb's Head, where it is extremely common, taking the place of L. fuscus, which is by far the most numerous species on the Northumber- land coast. 206 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. Birds in the second and third year's plumage are found off the coast, and within the river all through the summer. There is frequently a great difference in the relative size of this species ; to pick extremes, the disparity seems sufficient to create a specific di- stinction. 265. LARUS MARINUS, Linnaeus. Great Black- backed Gull. Provincial. Cob. This fine Gull is tolerably plentiful in the river, and on the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coasts. The old bird is the wildest and most unapproachable of our Gulls. The young of the year, however, are at first comparatively fearless of their natural enemy, man, and thus not unfrequently fall victims to their temerity. The old birds keep in pairs throughout the winter, haunting the wildest and most desolate portions of our flat coasts, and rarely mingling or associating with other Gulls, or coming inland to feed. They leave us in the spring for the north, returning with the young birds in July. At this season they are often numerous at Spurn, and off the mouth of the H umber, between the Bull and Newsand floating light-ships, where there is always much floating matter drifting to and fro with the tides. This species is much more of a marine bird than either of the preceding, and rarely leaves the sea-coast. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 207 266, LARUS GLAUCUS, Gmelin. Glaucous Gull. Provincial Burgomaster. This large northern Gull has been killed on several occasions during the autumn and winter, near Flam- borough, almost in every case immature birds, in the broccoli-brown plumage. A very fine mature bird, a male, now in the col- lection of Sir Henry Boynton, Bart., of Burton Agnes, was shot at Bridlington early in January 1871 (see Zoologist 1871, p. 2488)*. * In the 'Open Polar Sea/ Dr. Hayes gives us a most interesting and graphic description of the habits of these marine vultures at their breeding-stations. He says : " Near the Little- ton Island of Captain Inglefield, we saw a number of Ducks, both Eiders and Hareldas. A rugged little ledge, which I named Eider Island, was so thickly colonized that we could hardly walk without treading on a nest. We killed with guns and stones over two hundred birds in a few hours. It was near the close of the breeding-season. The nests were still occupied by the mother birds j but many of the young had burst the shell, and were nestling under the wing, or taking their first lessons in the water-pools. Some, more advanced, were already in the ice-sheltered channels, greedily waiting for the shell-fish and sea-urchins which the old bird busied herself in procuring for them. Near by was a low and isolated rock-ledge, which we called Hans Island. The Glaucous Gulls, those cormorants of the Arctic seas, had made it their peculiar homestead. Their progeny, already fully fledged and voracious, crowded the guano- whitened rocks ; and the mothers, with long necks and gaping yellow bills, swooped above the peaceful shallows of the Eiders, carrying off the young birds, seemingly just as their wants re- quired. The Gull would gobble up and swallow a young Eider in less time than it takes me to describe the act. For a moment 208 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 267. LESTRIS CATARRHACTES (Linnaeus). Common Skua. Provincial. Murrel-Hen, The Common Skua, the largest of the parasitic Gulls, is not uncommon near Flamborough and along the east coast in the autumn. I have met with it off the Headland as early as the first week in August*. Nests still, but in very limited numbers, on one or two small islands in the Shetland group. 268. LESTRIS POMATORHINUS, Temminck. Poma- torhine Skua. The Pomatorhine Skua occurs each autumn in small numbers in the neighbourhood of Flamborough and along the east coast, almost invariably, however, in the brown immature dress, the full-plumaged bird being quite exceptional. One which I examined in the flesh in October 1869, at the house of Mr. Bailey at Flamborough, was pro- cured in rather a curious manner. Mr. Bailey had, when out in his boat in Bridlington Bay, shot at and slightly wounded a Kittiwake Gull, which fell at some you would see the paddling feet of the poor little wretch pro- truding from the mouth ; then came a distent! on of the neck as it descended into the stomach ; a few moments more, and the young Gulls were feeding on the ejected morsel." * Mr. Howard Saunders informs me that on the 15th of July, 1872, he saw a Common Skua, very early in the morning, sweeping along the water, close inshore, at Cronier, probably looking for any fisherman's offal left on the beach. BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 209 distance ; before he could pick it up the wounded bird was attacked by the Skua, which remained clinging to the body of the Gull till shot. 269. LESTRIS PARASITICUS (Linnaeus) . Richardson's Skua. A regular autumn and winter visitant to the east coast, arriving in August. Is often very plentiful at this season near Flamborough, where it is obtained in every stage of plumage, but mainly in the dark immature garb, birds in the adult plumage being much less frequent. 270. LESTRIS LONGICAUDUS, Vieillot. Buffon's Skua. Provincial. Boatswain Gull. I have met with this Skua at Mamborough in the autumn. It is not nearly of such common occurrence as the preceding, and is always considered by our collectors a valuable acquisition. One, an immature male, received by Mr. Boulton from Flamborough in September 1864*, was in colour a sooty-black, with a slight shade of brown in some lights ; the shafts of the primaries were pure white. The central tail-feathers extended some inches beyond the rest. The tarsus, toes, webs, claws, and sole of the foot were inky-black. This Skua breeds in the north of Europe on some part or other of the dreary fells of Lapland, and in See 'Zoologist,' 1864, p. 9365. 210 BIRDS OF THE HUMBEE DISTRICT. certain localities often in considerable numbers. The eggs, generally two in number, are placed on the ground, generally in a slight hollow lined with a few pieces of dried grass, and invariably in the neighbour- hood of water. The food of the old birds during the breeding-season is principally the fruit of the common Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) , coleoptera, and small Crustacea. Mr. Wheelwright says he never saw any thing but crowberries in the inside of the young ones (A Spring and Summer in Lapland, p. 357). 271. PROCELLARIA GLACIALIS (Linnseus). Fulmar Petrel. Provincial. Mollymoke. Has been obtained on several occasions during the last ten years on our east coast, but always, like so many ocean wanderers, in the autumn or winter months. One, a mature male, sent to Mr. Boulton in 1864, was killed on the 29th of October in that year on board a trawler off Flamborough Head (Zoologist, 1864, p. 9365). In November 1868* Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., had four sent him, each in the flesh, by Mr. Roberts, of Scarborough; they were taken on board a fishing- yawl at sea, the men catching some with hooks, others by hand on the deck of the vessel as they were devouring the herrings. Mr. Gurney states that the * Zoologist, 1869, p. 1518. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 211 Flamborough fishermen had that season seen scores of them off the coast about thirty miles from land. One in my possession, a storm- driven bird, was killed by a groom on the 18th of October, 1867, in a turnip-field at Barnoldby-le-Beck; it was un- wounded, but apparently incapable of rising from the land*. The stomachs of Fulmar Petrels shot off this coast, examined by myself and Mr. Gurney, have contained the jaws of cuttlefish, as well as numbers of small globular semiopaque substances, apparently the air- bladders of some species of Algae. 272. PUFFINUS MAJOR, Faber. Greater Shearwater. An occasional, but rather rare autumn-visitant to the east coast of Yorkshire, almost always birds in the deep-brown plumage of immaturity. Several were seen near Flamborough in the autumn of 1866, three of which were received by Mr. Boulton in the flesh : they were all in the young plumage. 273. PUFFINUS ANGLORUM (Temminck). The Manx Shearwater. Not uncommon in the autumn along our coast, arriving in small parties, and is by no means unusual at this season off the Flamborough Headland. Mr. Boulton has frequently obtained them shot on the eastern seaboard in all stages of plumage. * Zoologist, 1868, p. 1030. 212 R1RDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 274. THALASSIDROMA LEACHII (Temminck). Fork- tailed Petrel. In the 'Zoologist' for 1865, p. 9493, Mr. Boulton records the capture of this rare Petrel in Holderness. It was taken alive by some drainers when flapping helplessly in the mud of a " grip " near Bentley Wood, about two miles from Beverley, in the autumn of 1854. Two are recorded by Mr. J. W. Harrison, of Spalding, in the ( Field ' newspaper, as taken alive in that neighbourhood in the early part of December 1867. 275. THALASSIDROMA BULWERI (Jardine). Bulwer*s Petrel This southern species was added to the British list by Mr. Gould, from an example taken on the banks of the Ure, near Tanfield, Yorkshire, on the 8th of May, 1837. Another, preserved by Mr. Boberts, and recorded in his list, was captured at Scarborough in the spring of 1849. (See also ' Zoologist' for 1849, p. 2569.) It is found on the sea near the Madeira Islands. 276. THALASSIDROMA PELAGICA (Linnseus). Storm- Petrel Provincial. Mother Carey's Chicken. This little ocean-wanderer has frequently occurred in flocks ; and many specimens have from time to BIRDS OP THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 213 time been obtained in the autumn and winter along our eastern seaboard, and particularly in the neigh- bourhood of Flamborough, after long continuations of severe and stormy weather. During the first week in October 1867 there was a considerable flock in Bridlington Bay ; eight or nine were then shot, and another knocked down as it was flitting close to the stern of a fishing-boat, by the short gaff the men use for hauling in the cod. Storm-driven birds have also occurred on several occasions far inland, both in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. By sailors, who are proverbially superstitious, the little Petrel has ever been considered a bird of ill omen, and the harbinger of foul weather. u The mariner curseth the warning bird Which bringeth him news of the storm unheard." Birds of the ocean though they be, they are not able to contend against unusually heavy and long- continued gales, and naturally fly before the storm, seeking the nearest shelter, thus congregating often in large numbers round the stern and to leeward of the lonely and labouring ship, the only break in the storm -swept sea. APPENDIX. FALCO RUFIPES. Red-footed Falcon. (Page 4.) A third specimen of this little Falcon, a female (recorded in "Land and Water'), was shot near Scar- borough in 1868. It was skinned by Mr. Roberts of that place, who says its stomach was filled with earth-worms. FALCO .ESALON. Merlin. (Page 5.) Mr. Gurney informs me that in Norfolk and Durham he thinks adults are to young birds as about one to twelve. My own experience in this district is, that we have a larger proportion than this of mature birds. MILVUS ICTINUS. Kite. (Page 7.) Mr. Adrian told me (May 1872) that, about twelve years since, he has sometimes seen four or five pairs of Kites together on the river just below Lincoln. They used to come up to feed upon any floating garbage car- 216 BIRDS OF THE HtfMBER DISTRICT. ried down from the city. About this period, requiring a specimen, he one day took his gun and a young tame rabbit that had recently died, and went down to a hollow pollard willow, which grew on the bank of the Witham. The rabbit was opened to show the flesh ; and then, securing it by a string, he let it float out into the middle of the stream. Concealing him- self in the hollow tree, he kept a sharp look-out down the river in the direction of the great woodlands where the Kites nested ; and he had not to wait long ; for presently, at an immense distance, he descried one of these noble birds slowly sailing and gyrating on almost motionless wing up the stream towards his hiding-place, all the time, too, intently scanning the water for any floating object. Arriving at last over the rabbit, it remained for one moment quite station- ary, and then dashed downwards, at the same instant falling dead with expanded wings on the water. Thus, by gun and trap, the last Lincolnshire Kites passed away. Mr. Roberts, in his Scarborough list, mentions four examples of the Kite preserved by himself, the last in July 1864. PERNIS APIVORUS. Honey-Buzzard. (Page 9.) One, a female, was killed at Flamborough on the 2nd of June, 1855. The stomach was full of frogs and slugs. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 217 Another, an adult male, was obtained near Louth, Lincolnshire, in the same summer (Zoologist, p. 6807). CIRCUS CINERACEUS. Montagu's Harrier. (Page 11.) A male of this species, obtained near Scarborough in 1868, and preserved by Mr. Roberts, had the stomach filled with frogs (' Land and Water ') . LANIUS RUTILUS, Latham. Woodchat. Mr. Roberts includes this rare Shrike in his Scarborough List. ORIOLUS GALBULA. Golden Oriole. (Page 26.) Three are recorded by Mr. Roberts in his list as having been killed near Scarborough. PETROCINCLA SAXATILIS (Gmelin). Rock-Thrush. In the 'Naturalist' for 1856, p. 21, Mr. Thomas Bedlington, of Middlesborough, has recorded the occurrence of an example of this Thrush in June 1852, on the Yorkshire coast, near Robin Hood's Bay. He states that he followed the bird for about two miles, and often got within a dozen yards of it by creeping behind the hedges. It finally disappeared in a plantation. 218 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. RUTICILLA TITHYS (Scopoli). Black Redstart. A male, preserved by Mr. Roberts, was obtained near Filey in December 1853 (Zoologist, p. 4331). Another, a male, was taken at Gedney Drove- end, South Lincolnshire, on October 25th, 1867. SALICARIA STREPERA. Reed Warbler. (Page 32.) Mr. Roberts says, was abundant on the Mere near Scarborough before it was drained. ALAUDA ARBOREA. Wood- Lark. (Page 47.) Has been noticed in the neighbourhood of Scar- borough (Roberts^ List). EMBERIZA CIRLUS, Linnaeus. Cirl Bunting. Has occurred near Scarborough in the autumn (Robertas List) . Messrs. Sharpe and Dresser, in their splendid arid exhaustive work ' The Birds of Europe,' on the au- thority of J. Gatcombe, Esq., of Plymouth, mention a crucial test for distinguishing the female Cirl Bunting from the female Yellow Bunting, which closely resemble each other. By parting the feathers on the head the Yellow Bunting at all ages will be found to have the bases of the feathers yellow ; in the Cirl Bunting these are dusky. BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 219 COCCOTHRAUSTES CHLORis. Greenfinch. (Page 53.) Captain Walker, of the S.S. ' Lord Cardigan/ has told me that often, when crossing the North Sea in the autumn, numbers of small birds of various sorts have come on board his vessel. He has especially known large flocks of Greenfinches settle on the ship, and even enter the cabins. Sometimes he has placed saucers on the deck containing crumbs of bread for his little visitors, but could never tempt them to eat any thing. They generally took their departure after a few hours' rest. GALBULA RUFICAUDA. Jacamar. I have seen in the collection of Canon Tristram, at Greatham, a Lincolnshire example of this brilliant bird, a native of South and Central America. It must ever remain an ornithological puzzle how it could have reached this country. It is a female in perfect plumage, and was shot either in June or July 1849 by S. Fox, gamekeeper to the late Sir Hickman Bacon, Bart., on a manor adjoining Laughton, near Gainsborough, flying at the time over a small brook in a wood, apparently in pursuit of butterflies. It borcTno marks of having escaped from captivity ; nor is it likely, from its known habits, that it could have been kept in confinement. The particulars of this capture and Mr. Tristram's remarks are given in the ' Zoologist,' p. 3906. L2 220 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. RALLUS AQUATIC us, Linnaeus. Water-Rail. (Page 145.) We had a most undoubted and very considerable arrival of migratory Water-Rails in this district in the autumn of 1872, the great majority of these being young birds of the year. I found them at this season during the latter part of October and beginning of November in the most unlikely and unlooked-for localities, even in the small ditches bordering the public roads. The gizzard of a Water- Rail, an old female, killed October 28th, contained fragments of Coleoptera, larvae of Neuroptera, bits of sea-shells, quartz and chalk, part of an earwig, and the head-bones of a small fish. ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS. Pink-footed Goose. (Page 149.) Mr. St. John, in his ' Natural History and Sport in Moray/ p. 79, says : " A few small companies of Pink-footed and White-fronted Geese usually arrive early in the month" (March) ; this is on their way to the northern breeding- stations ; " but about the 28th, and generally on some quiet evening, immense flights of the Bean- Goose arrive in Findhorn Bay." Mr. Gray (Birds of the West of Scotland, p. 344), on the authority of Mr. Harvie Brown, says the Bean- Goose " is the commonest Goose on the east coast " of Scotland. In Yorkshire the Bean-Goose is the rule, the Pink- BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 221 footed the exception ; and this is also the case in North Lincolnshire. In Norfolk, however, as Mr. Stevenson informs me, the Bean-Goose is the rarity, and specimens most difficult to procure, its place being taken by the Pink-footed or Short-billed Goose. From these facts it seems not improbable that the winter- quarters of the Bean-Goose on our eastern seaboard do not generally, as a rule, extend further south than Lincolnshire, and that in Norfolk it is represented by the Short-billed species, the principal autumn line of migration of these latter striking the east coast to the south of this county. ANAS BAHAMENSIS (Catesby) . The Bahama Duck. My friend Mr. Seddon has shown me a Duck of this species obtained on the Humber in the winter of 1870-71. It was evidently an escaped bird, as the primaries of one wing are cut. In the * Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh/ January 8th, 1853, Dr. John Alexander Smith records the occurrence of a BahamaDuck at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, shot by some fishermen not far from the Bass Rock in December 1851. SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA. Eider Duck. (Page 168.) On the coast of Durham and Northumberland the Eider is still known as St. Cuthbert's Duck. The Farn birds are probably the descendants of those 222 BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. which the good Saint, now nearly 1200 years since, tended and loved so well during his solitary life in the lonely little isle. When in 1827, under the direction of Canon Raine, the tomb of St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathe- dral was opened, the bones found in the inner coffin were wrapped in rich and costly robes embroidered with water-fowl which Mr. Raine believed represented the Eider Duck. tf) trag jftjart, or neto it rutjjeti) ta INDEX. Accentor alpinus, 26. modularis, 26. Accipiter nisus, 7. Alauda alpestris, 45. arborea, 47, 218. arvensis, 46. Alca alle, 186. torda, 188. Alcedo ispida, 71. Anas acuta, 162. bahamensis, 221. bosehas, 162. clypeata, 160. penelope, 166. strepera, 161. Anser aegyptiacus, 152. albifrons, 150. bernicla, 152. brachyrnynchus, 140, 220. canadensis, 153. ferus, 147. leucopsis, 151. segetum, 148. Anthus arboreus, 43. campestris, 45. obscurus, 44. pratensis, 43. rupestris, 44. Aquila chrysaetus, 1. Archibuteo lagopus, 9. Ardea alba, 103. cinerea, 101. comata, 103. purpurea, 103. Astur atricapillus, 6. palumbarius, 6. Bombycilla garrulus, 40. Botaurus minutus, 104. stellaris, 104. Bubo maximus, 12. Buteo vulgaris, 8. Calamophilus biarmicus, 40. Calidris arenaria, 98. Caprimulgus europaeus, 76. Carduelis elegans, 54. spinus, 54. Certbia familiaris, 68. Cliaradrius cantianus, 93. hiaticula, 92. morinellus, 91. pluvialis, 88. Ciconia alba, 106. nigra, 106. Cinclus aquatieus, 19. melanogaster, 19. Circus aeruginosus, 10. cineraceus, 11. cyaneus, 10. Clangula albeola, 176. glaucion, 175. Coccothraustes chloris, 53, 219. vulgaris, 53. Columba livia, 78. oenas, 77. palumbus, 76. turtur, 79. Colymbus arcticus, 182. glacialis, 181. septentrionalis, 183. Coracias garrula, 71. Corvus corax, 59. comix, 61. corone, 63. frugilegus, 63. 224 INDEX. Corms monedula, 65. Coturnix vulgaris, 82. Crex porzana, 143. pratensis, 142. pusilla, 144. Cuculus canorus, 70. Curruca atricapilla, 33. cinerea, 34. hortensis, 34. sylviella, 34. Cursorius europseus, 86. Cygnus minor, 157. musicus, 153. niger, 159. olor, 158. Cypselus apus, 75. Emberiza cirlus, 218. citrinella, 49. miliaria, 48. schoeniclus, 49. Erythaca rubecula, 27. Falco aesalon, 5, 215. candicans, 3. islandus, 3. peregrinus, 3. rufipee, 4, 215. subbuteo, 4. tinnunculus, 6. Fratercula arctica, 187. Fringilla coelebs, 49. montifringilla, 50. Fulica atra, 146. Fuligula cristata, 173. ferina, 171. ferruginea, 172. marila, 172. rufina, 171. Galbula ruficauda, 219. G-allinula chloropus, 146. Q-arrulus glandarius, 65. Glareola torquata, 88. Grus cinerea, 100. Hasmatopus ostralegus, 99. Haliaeetus albi cilia, 1. Harelda glacialis, 174. Hirundo riparia, 74. rustica, 73. urbica, 74. Ibis falcinellus, 107. Lanius collurio, 17. excubitor, 16. rutilus, 217. Larus argentatus, 205. canus, 203. eburneus, 203. fuscus, 204. glaucus, 207. leucopterus, 204. marinus, 206. minutus, 198. ridibundus, 199. sabini, 198. tridactylus, 202. Lestris catarrhactes, 208. longicaudus, 209. parasiticus, 209. pomatorhinus, 208. Limosa melanura, 116. rufa, 118. Linota canescens, 55. cannabina, 55. linaria, 56. montium, 56. Loxia curvirostra, 57. pityopsittacus, 57. Machetes pugnax, 120. Mergus albellus, 176. merganser, 178. serrator, 177. Merops apiaster, 71. Milvus ictinus, 7, 215. Motacilla alba, 42. boarula, 42. rayi, 43. yarrelli, 41. Muscicapa atricapilla, 18. grisola, 17. Noctua tengmalmi, 15. Nucifraga caryocatactes, 66. Numenius arquatus, 107. INDEX. 225 Numenius phseopus, 109. Nycticorax griseus, 105. (Edemia fusca, 1 69. nigra, 169. CEdicnemus crepitans, 87. Oriolus galbula, 26, 217. Ortyx virginianus, 83. Otis tarda, 83. tetrax, 85. macqueeni, 86. Otus brachyotus, 13. vulgaris, 11. Pandion haliaeetus, 2. Parus ater, 39. caeruleus, 39. caudatus, 39. major, 39. palustris, 39. Passer domesticus, 52. montanus, 51. Pastor roseus, 59. Perdix cinerea, 81. petrosa, 81. rufa, 81. Pernis apivorus, 9, 216. Petrocincla saxatilis, 217. Phalacrocorax carbo, 189. graculus, 190. Phalaropus fulicarius, 139. hyperboreus, 140. Phasianus colchicus, 79. torquatus, 79. Philomela luscinia, 33. Phoenicura ruticilla, 28. suecica, 27. Pica caudata, 65. Picus major, 67. minor, 67. villosus, 67. viridis, 66. Platalea leucorodia, 106. Plectrophanes nivalis, 47. Podiceps auritus, 180. cornutus, 179. cristatus, 178. minor, 180. rubricollis, 179. Procellaria glacialis, 210. Puffinus anglorum, 211. major, 211. Pyrrhula vulgaris, 56. Querquedula circia, 165. crecca, 166. Rallus aquaticus, 145, 220. Recurvirostra avocetta, 115. Regulus cristatus, 36. ignicapillus, 38. Euticilla tithys, 218. Salicaria locustella, 31. phragmitis, 31. strepera, 32, 218. Saxicola renanthe, 30. rubetra, 29. rubicola, 28. Scolopax gallinula, 130. major, 128. media, 128. russata, 130. rusticola, 122. Scops aldrovandi, 11. Sitta europaca, 70. Somateria mollissima, 168, 221. stelleri, 169. Squatarola cinerea, 93. Sterna cantiaca, 193. caspia, 192. dougallii, 193. fissipes, 196. fluviatilis, 194. hirundo. 194. leucoptera, 197. minuta, 195. Strepsilas interpres, 97. Strix acadica, 15. flammea, 14. Sturnus vulgaris, 58. Sulabassana, 191. Surnia nyctea, 15. Sylvia rufa, 36. sylvicola, 35. trochilus, 35. Syrnium stridulum, 15. Syrrhaptes paradoxus, 80. 226 INDEX. Tadorna vulpanser, 159. Tetrao tetrix, 80. Thalassidroma bulweri, 212. leachii, 212. pelagica, 212. Tetanus calidris, 111. fuscus, 111. glareola, 114. glottis, 115. hypoleucus, 114. ochropus, 112. Tringa canutus, 132. maritima, 139. minuta, 135. platyrhyncha, 135. subarquata, 132. temminckii, 136. Tringa variabilis, 136. Troglodytes vulgaris, 68. Turdus iliacus, 23. merula, 24. musicus, 21. pilaris, 20. torquatus, 25. viscivorus, 19. Upupa epops, 69. Uria grylle, 186. lacrymans, 185. troile, 183. Vanellus cristatus, 95. Yunx torquilla, 67. INDEX. ENGLISH NOMENCLATURE. Accentor, Alpine, 26. Hedge, 26. American Goshawk, 6. Auk, Little, 186. Razor-billed, 188. Avocet, 115. Bee-eater, 71. Bernicle Goose, 151. Bittern, Common, 104. Little, 104. Blackbird, 24. Blackcap, 33. Black Grouse, 80. Brambling, 50. Bullfinch, 56. Bunting, Black-headed, 49. Cirl, 218. Common, 48. Snow-, 47. Yellow, 49. Bustard, Great, 83. Little, 85. Macqueen's, 86. Buzzard, Common, 8. Honey-, 9, 216. Rough-legged, 9. Chaffinch, 49. Chiffchaff, 36. Coot, 146. Cormorant, Common, 189. Green, 190. Courser, Cream-coloured, 86. Crake, Corn, 142. Little, 144. Spotted, 143. Crane, Common, 100. Creeper, Common, 68. Crossbill, Common, 57. Parrot, 57. Crow, Carrion, 60. Hooded, 61. Cuckoo, 70. Curlew, Common, 107. Stone, 87. Dabchick, 180. Dipper, Common, 19. Diver, Black-throated, 182. Great Northern, 181. Red-throated, 183. Dotterel, 91. Ringed, 92. Dove, Ring-, 76. Rock-, 78. Stock-, 77. Turtle, 79. Duck, Bahama, 221. Buffel-headed, 176. Eider, 168, 221. Ferruginous, 172. Gad wall, 161. Garganey, 165. Golden-eye, 175. Long-tailed, 174. Pintail, 162. Pochard, 171. 228 INDEX. Duck, Red-crested, 171. Scaup, 172. Scoter, 169. Shoveller, 160. Steller's Western, 169. Teal, 166. Tufted, 173. Velvet, 169. Wigeon, 166. Wild, 162. Dunlin, 136. Eagle, Golden, 1. White- tailed, 1. Eider Duck, 168, 221. Falcon, Greenland, 3. Iceland, 3. Jer, 3. Peregrine, 3. Bed-footed, 4, 215. Fieldfare, 20. Finch, Bull, 56. Gold, 54. Green, 53, 219. Haw, 56. Fire-crested Kegulua, 38. Flycatcher, Pied, 18. Spotted, 17. Fulmar Petrel, 210. Gadwall, 161. Gannet, 191. Garganey, 165. God wit, Bar-tailed, 118. Black-tailed, 116. Golden-crested Wren, 36. Golden-eye, 175. Golden Oriole, 26, 217. Goldfinch, 54. Goosander, 178. Goose, Bean-, 148. Bernicle, 151. Brent, 152. Canada, 153. Egyptian, 152. Grey Lag, 147. Pink-footed, 149, 220. White-fronted, 150. Goshawk, 6. American, 6. Grebe, Eared, 180. Great Crested, 178. Little. 180. Eed-necked, 179. Sclavonian, 179. Greenfinch, 53, 219. Greenshank, 115. Grouse, Black, 80. Pallas's Sand-, 80. Guillemot, Black, 186. Common, 183. Ringed, 185. Gull, Black-headed, 199. Common, 203. Glaucous, 207. Great Black-backed, 206. Herring-, 205. Iceland, 204. Ivory, 203. Kittiwake, 202. Lesser Black-backed, 204. Little, 198. Sabine's, 198. Hareld, 174. Harrier, Hen-, 10. Marsh-, 10. Montagu's, 11,217. Hawfinch, 53. Hedge-Sparrow, 26. Heron, Common, 101. Great White, 103. Night, 105. Purple, 103. Squacco, 103. Hobby, 4. Hoopoe, 69. Ibis, Glossy, 107. Jacamar, 219. Jackdaw, 65. Jack Snipe, 130. Jay, 65. Jer Falcon, 3. Kestrel, 6. INDEX. 229 Kingfisher, Common, 71. Kite, 7, 215. Kittiwake, 202. Knot, 132. Landrail, 142. Lapwing, 95. Lark, Shore-, 45. Sky-, 46. Wood-, 47, 218. Linnet, Common, 55. Mountain, or Twite, 56. Magpie, 65. Mallard, 162. Martin, House-, 74. Sand-, 74. Merganser, Red-breasted, 177. Merlin, 5, 215. Missel-Thrush, 19. Nightingale, 33. Nightjar, 76. Norwegian Kock- Pipit, 44. Nutcracker, 66. Nuthatch, 70. Oriole, Golden, 26, 217. Osprey, 2. Ouzel, Ring-, 25. Water-, 19, Scandinavian, 19. Owl, Acadian, 15. Barn-, 14. Eagle, 12. Long-eared, 11. Saw-whet, 15. Scops, 11. Short-eared, 13. Snowy, 15. Tawny, 15. Tengmalm's, 15. Oyster, catcher, 99. Pallas's Sand-Grouse, 80. Partridge, Barbary, 81. Common, 81. Red-legged, 81. Pastor, Rose-coloured, 59. Peewit, 95. Peregrine, 3. Petrel, Bulwer's, 212. Fork-tailed, 212. Fulmar, 210. Storm-, 212. Phalarope, Grey, 139. Red-necked, 140. Pheasant, 79. Pigeon, Rock-, 78. Stock-, 77. Wood-, 76. Pintail Duck, 162. Pipit, Meadow-, 43. Rock-, 44. Scandinavian Rock-, 44. Tawny, 45. Tree-, 43. Plover, Golden, 88. Green, 95. Grey, 93. Kentish, 93. Ringed, 92. Pochard, Common, 171. Pratincole, Collared, 88. Puffin, 187. Quail, Common, 82. Virginian, 83. Rail, Land-, 142. Little, 144. Spotted, 143. Water-, 145, 220. Raven, 59. Razorbill, 188. Red-backed Shrike, 17. Redbreast, 27. Red -crested Whistling Duck, 171. Red-footed Falcon, 4, 215. Redpole, Lesser, 56. Mealy, 55. Redshank, Common, 111. Spotted, 111. Redstart, Common, 28. Black, 218. Redwing, 23. Reed Warbler, 32, 218, Reeve, 120. 230 INDEX. Eegulus, Fire-crested, 38. King- Ouzel, 25. Eingtail, 10. Eobin, 27. Rock-Thrush, 217. Roller, 71. Rook, 63. Ruff, 120. : , Sanderling, 98. Sand-Grouse, Pallas's, 80. Sandpiper, Broad-billed, 135. Common, 114. Curlew, 132. Dunlin, 136. Green, 112. Little, 135. Purple, 139. Temminck's, 136. Wood, 114. Scaup Duck, 172. Scoter, Common, 169. Velvet, 169. Shag or Green Cormorant, 190. Shearwater, Greater, 211. Manx, 211. Sheldrake, 159. Shoveller, 160. Shrike, Great Grey, 16. Red-backed, 17. Woodchat, 217. Siskin, 54. Skua, Buffon's, 209. Common, 208. Pomatorhine, 208. Richardson's, 209. Sky-Lark, 46. Smew, 176. Snipe, Common, 128. Great, 128. Jack, 130. Sparrow, Hedge-, 26. House-, 52. Tree-, 51. Sparrow-Hawk, 7. Spoonbill. White, 106. Starling, Common, 58. Stint, Little, 135. Temminck's, 136. Stonechat, 28. Stork, Black, 106. White, 106. Storm-Petrel, 212. Swallow, 73. Swan, Bewick's, 157. Black, 159. Mute, 158. Wild, 153. Swift, Common, 75. Teal, 166. Tern, Arctic, 194. Black, 196. Caspian, 192. Common, 194. Lesser, 195. Roseate, 193. Sandwich, 193. White-winged, 197. Thrush, Missel-, 19. Rock-, 217. Song-, 21. Titmouse, Bearded, 40. Blue, 39. Coal, 39. Great, 39. Long-tailed, 39. Marsh-, 39. Turnstone, 97. Turtle Dove, 79. Twite, 56. Wagtail, Grey, 42. Pied, 41. Yellow, 43. White, 42. Warbler, Blackcap, 33. Blue-throated, 27. Garden, 34. Grasshopper, 31. Reed, 32, 218. Sedge, 31. Willow, 35. Wood, 35. Water-hen, 146. Ouzel, 19. Rail, 145, 220. Waxwing, 40. INDEX. 231 Wheatear, 30. Whimbrel, 109. Whinchat, 29. Whitethroat, Common, 34. Lesser, 34. Whooper, 153. Wigeon, 1(56. Woodchat, 217. Woodcock, 122. Wood-Lark, 47, 218. Woodpecker, Green, 66. Woodpecker, Hairy, 67. Great Spotted, 67. Lesser Spotted, 67. Wood-Pigeon, 76. Wren, Common, 68. Fire-crested, 38. Golden-crested, 36. Wryneck, 67. Yellow Hammer or Yellow Bunting, 49. THE END. Printed by TAYLOR and FKANCIS, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. BOOKS ON BIRDS, ETC., PUBLISHED OR IN PREPARATION. HINTS ON SHORE-SHOOTING, including a chapter on Skinning and Preserving Birds. By J. E. HARTING, F.L.S., F.Z.S. Post 8vo, 3*. 6d. A HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS, 8vo. Showing the Distribution of the Resident and Migratory Birds in the British Islands, with an Index to the records of the Rarer Species. By J. E. HARTING, F.L.S. &c. 8vo, 7s. 6d. THE ORNITHOLOGY OF SHAKESPEARE, Critically Examined, Ex- plained, and Illustrated. By J. E. 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ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES IN SUSSEX, with a Catalogue of the Birds of that County, and Remarks on their Local Distribution. By A. E. M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S. Third Edition, 7s. 6d. AUTUMNS ON THE SPEY. By A. E. KNOX, M.A., F.L.S. Post 8ro, with Four Illustrations by Wolf. 6s. THE IBIS : A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY. Edited by OSBEET SALVIN, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c. 6s. each. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ISLES. This Series of Works is Illustrated by many Hundred Engravings ; every Species has been Drawn and Engraved under the immediate inspection of the Authors ; the best Artists have been employed, and no care or expense has been spared. Each Work of the Series is sold separately as enumerated below. QUADRUPEDS. By Prof. BELL. (Second Edition in the press.) BIRDS. By Mr. YAHRELL. Fourth Edition. Edited by Prof. NEWTON, F.R.S. In parts at 2s.