■ ■ -- • FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY WILD BIRDS AND THEIR HAUNTS (a book for students and sportsmen) GREAT CRESTED GREBE. Frontispiece WILD BIRDS AND THEIR HAUNTS (A BOOK FOR STUDENTS AND SPORTSMEN) BY W. HALLIDAY, M.A., D.Sc, F.S.A. (Scot.) With a FOREWORD by GENE STRATTON-PORTER And an INTRODUCTION by W. PERCIVAL WESTELL, F.L-S. HEATH CRANTON LIMITED 6, FLEET LANE, LONDON, E.C. 4 G * Dedication To tlie memory of one whom I loved and lost — a real lover of nature — are these lines of my best work dedicated. W. H. CONTENTS. — ' Page Author's Note n Foreword by Gene Stratton-Porter 13 Introduction by W. Percival Westell 15^ Part I. Birds of Lewis, Hebrides 19 Occurrences of Rare Birds 22 Wild Fowl Shooting ... 27 Bird Life on the Fame Islands 31 Among the Sea Birds 37 A Night of Wild Fowling 46 A Few Comments on the Sport 50 How I Became a Naturalist 51 Bird Migration 59 Bird Migration from America to Europe 66 Autumn Migrants 76 The Power of Flight Possessed by Birds 78 Comparative Energy in Birds 87 Faculties of Vision in Birds 88 Bird Characteristics Architecturally 99 Peculiarities of Birds 105 Birds of Leicestershire no Distinction Between Man and Lower Animals 120 Faculties of Birds Generally 122 The Sense of Hearing 124 Formation of Birds 127 Footless Birds 129 Birds whose Feet and Legs are Strongly in Evidence ... 132 The Superiority of the Female in Natural History ... 136 Fowling Reminiscences 139 A Memorable Adventure 143 Holiday at Wild Fowling 146 Part II. Eve of Xmas 149 The Little Auk (Mergulus Alle) 153 The Turnstone (Strepsilas Interpres) 154 The Golden-Eye (Glangula Vulgaris) 156 The Common Shoveller (Anas Aypeata) 157 The Common Pintail (Dafila Acuta) 158 The Knot (Tringa Canutus) 159 Richardson's Skua (Lestris Richardsonii) 161 The Common Skua (Anas Crecca) and Twist-tailed Skua 162 Contents — continued Page The Eared Grebe (Podiceps Auritus) 164 The Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps Cristatus) 165 The Pochard 167 The Scaup (Fuligula Mania) 168 The Great Grey Shrike (Lanius Excubitor) 169 The Terns 171 The Razor-bill Auk (Alca Torda) 172 The Puffin (Fratercula Arctica) 173 The Velvet Scoter (CEdemia Fusca) 174 The Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus Serrator) 175 The Great Northern Diver (Colymbus Glacialis) 176 The Common Eider (Somateria Mollissima) 178 The Common Shelldrake (Tadorna Belonii) 179 The Common Wild Duck or Mallard (Boschas Fera) ... 180 Unorthodox Nesting 182 The Common Widgeon (Mareca Penelope) 183 The Common Teal (Boschas Crecca) 185 The Brent Goose (Anser Brenta) 186 Solan Goose 190 The Pink-Footed Goose (Anser Brachyrhynchus) ... 192 The Common Night Heron (Nycticorax Gardenii) ... 194 The Hooper or Wild Swan (Cygnus Ferus) 196 Black Swan (Cygnus Bewickii) 197 The Purple Sandpiper (Tringa Striata) 198 The Great Black-backed Gull (Larus Marinus) 199 Changing Habits of Birds 201 The Red-throated Diver (Colymbus Septentrionalis) ... 202 The Common Pheasant (Phastanus Colchicus) 204 The Common Partridge (Perdix Cinerea) 210 The Wood Pigeon (Columba Palumbus) 214 The Skylark (Alauda Arvensis) and M.S 220 The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus Canorus) 224 The Woodcock (Scolopax Rusticola) 232 The Woodcock (by the late Captain Horace Townshend) 243 Marking of Woodcock in Northumberland 245 The Golden Plover (Charadrius Pluvialus) 254 The Quail (Coturaix Communis) and M.S 257 Wheat-ear 267 Chimney Swallow 269 White Throat 273 Missel Thrush 275 Merlin 280 Golden Eagle 284 Swallow 289 Conclusion 294 Index 296 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Great Crested Grebe Kittiwakes Nesting The Mudflats at Sunset , Terns or Sea Swallows on the Wing , Butt of Lewis lighthouse where the Solan Goose is at Home The late Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, Bart., President of the Wild Fowlers' Association Pinnacle Rocks, Fame Islands " A Mighty Congregation." Pinnacle Rock, Fame Islands The Fame Islands Cripple Stopping Tilting the Gun for a Flying Shot ' ' A Successful Morning," Punt Shooting Mr. Sidney H. Smith (of the Wild Fowlers' Association) Going Aboard ' Taking the Breech-Loader Aboard " The Punt under Sail Method of Walking Over Cliff Edge A Group of Cliff Climbers A Cliff-Climber's Shelter... Eggs and Nest of Sandwich Tern Black Tern, Winter Plumage . A Good Haul Shoveller Drake, Winter Plumage Eider Duck and Nest Nest of Wild Duck Nest of Black-headed Gull Red-throated Diver Nest and Eggs of Pheasant Nest and Eggs of Partridge Sitting Partridge Willow Wren Feeding Cuckoo Pipit Offering her Morsel to Cuckoo Frontispiece cing pag e 12 >> »> 14 j» >> 17 >> »> 19 ji i) 27 51 JI 31 11 II 37 )> 11 11 11 11 >! 45 46 46 11 11 50 >» >1 50 »J II 5i II II 5i >« 11 II II II II 57 98 98 '1 II 122 • • 11 122 11 11 149 11 11 II 11 11 11 157 178 180 11 11 198 11 11 202 11 11 204 II 11 210 11 11 210 11 11 224 11 11 224 I AM greatly indebted to many friends for permission to use several of the bigger bird pictures in this work, and to the publishers, Messrs. Heath Cranton, Ltd., for most of the remaining illustrations, and I thank the courteous Hon. Sec. of the Fame Island Association for his notes regarding the prosperous work of that body in the matter of protection of the rarer species of the wild birds. I am also sensible of the large amount of support which the general public, and especially my friends of the North, have given to the books, which I have from time to time placed upon the market. To them I tender my hearty thanks for so lengthy a patronage. THE AUTHOR. January, 1922. AUTHOR'S NOTE I AM about to describe the particular species of Natatores, or Swimmers, found on the coast and the Fames, and whose whole life and business is among the waters. From the insular character of Britain these are con- spicuously numerous in a fauna so limited ; and while thousands in summer — speaking of the British Isles as a whole — seek our precipitous coasts and headlands as breeding stations, others, scarcely less numerous, flock in winter from their more northern incubations, and fill our bays and marine inlets. The contrast of these localities at the different seasons is most striking ; rocks standing far in the ocean's void, and precipices of the most dizzy height, to which all approach by land is cut off, possess a dreary solitude for seven or eight months of the year ; a few cormorants seeking repose during the night, or some gulls claiming a temporary shelter or resting-place from the violence of the storm, are almost the only, and then but occasional, tenants. In the throng of the breeding season a very different picture is presented : the whole rocks and sea and air are one scene of animation, and the various groups have returned to take up their old stations, and are now employed in all the accessories of incubation, affording lessons to the ornithological student which he will in vain look for elsewhere ; the very rocks are lighted up, and would seem to take a brightness from the hurry around, while the cries of the inhabitants, discordant alone, harmonise with the scene. During the same season, upon the low sandy or muddy coasts, or extensive merses, where the tide recedes for miles, and the only interruption on the outline is the slight undulation of some mussel-scaups, the dark colour of some bed of ' ' Zostera Marina " contrasting against the long bright crest of the surf, or in the middle distance some bare posts set up as a land-mark, or the timbers of some ill-fated vessels rising above the quick- sand, there reigns, on the contrary, a solitude of another kind ; it is now broken only by the distant roll of the surf, by the shrill pipe of the ring-dotterel, or the glance of its flight as it rises noiselessly ; a solitary gull or tern that has KITTIWAKES NESTING. To face page 12 Author's Note lagged from the flock may sail along, uttering as it were an unwilling inward sound as it passes the intruder ; every- thing is calm and still, the sensation increased by the hot glimmer that spreads along the sands ; there is no voice, there is no animal life. During winter the scene may at first sight appear nearly similar ; the warm and flickering haze is changed for a light that can be seen into ; the noise of the suige comes deeper through the clear air of frost, and with it at in- tervals hoarse sounds and shrill whistles, to which the ear is unaccustomed ; acres of dark masses are seen, which may be taken for low rocks or scaups, and the line of the sea in the bays contains something which rises and falls, and seems as if it were about to be cast on shore with every coming swell. To sportsmen these signs are familiar, and they know their meaning ; but to one who has for the first time trodden these flat coasts some distant shot or other alarm first explains everything. The line of the coast is now one dark moving mass ; the air seems alive with water- fowl, and is filled with sounds that rise and fall, and vary as the troops wheel around, and this continues until they have again settled to their rest ; as dusk approaches, these sounds are gradually resumed, at first coming from the ground, as warnings that it is time to be alert ; as the darkness and stillness of night sets in, one large flock after another hastens to its feeding ground, and the various calls and the noise of wings is heard with a clearness which is sufficient to enable the sportsman to mark the kinds, and trace his prey, to their feeding-stations, to make him aware of their approach long before they come within his reach. The total number oi British birds enumerated by Jenyns, exclusive of twenty-six doubtful species, is thiee hundred and twelve, of which Natatores furnish ninety. Of the latter again, one half nearly is made up of ducks, there being, according to the above-mentioned authority, forty-one species, including the Mergi or Gooseanders. The remainder is chiefly composed of gulls, including the terns and petrels ; while the grebes, divers, cormorants, and solan geese make up the balance. FOREWORD BY Gene Stratton-Porter, Author of " A Girl of the Iyimberlost," " Birds of the Bible," etc., etc. THERE never can be too many good books on the subject of ' ' Wild Birds and their Haunts," because the scientist of to-day has finally arrived at the realization that our food and com- fort depend upon the birds. On account of the likeness of the processes of human life to those of bird life in mating, home building, and the rearing and feeding of young, all Nature birds elicit our tenderest sympathy. We appreciate their grace in flight, their beauty of colouring, their exquisite and appealing song. We are touched by their trust in us, that fellowship that brings humming birds and warblers to the roses screening our windows, wrens to the knot holes in our weather boarding, robins to our lintels, swallows to our chimneys, and martins to our eaves. There is no more pathetic spectacle on the landscape than a birdless home ; as a rule it is also a flowerless and loveless home. That the birds enrich us with their beauty and cheer us with their song is the smallest part of their service to us. Without their help in cleaning the air of mosquitoes and tiny insects we should be much more uncomfortable than we are now. Without their work in eliminating slug and aphis; borer and beetle from our gardens and orchards, half our flower and fruit crops would be lost. This applies not alone to the delicate and lovely song birds. Quail and pheasant are busy in the fields, plover and rail around the lake shores, hawk and owl at work in the forest. Our forefathers felt justified in shooting gallinae for food, and falcons, hawks, and owls on sight, in the belief that the loss of an occasional domestic fowl Foreword demanded protection against raptores. To-day we know that every so called " game bird " taken from its work of cleaning up insect pests and weed seeds in the fields is a distinct and heavy financial loss to the farmer. Every hawk or owl stopped in its natural work of elimi- nating beetles, grasshoppers, field mice, moles, and other rodents, leaves thousands of these pests that it would have killed to go on destroying fortunes in vegetable gardens and grain fields. The figures on the subject of destruction of fruit, vegetables, and grain, by insect pests, are appalling. Conversely, carefully compiled statistics concerning the insects and rodents consumed annually by the birds are so amazing that we are led to see that not only are they our loving and entertaining friends, but that they actually stand between us and famine. So I would introduce the birds to every student of bird life on an economic basis first ; and afterward throw in for good measure the gift of their beauty and their song. I would lead no sportsman to the haunt of any bird for any consideration. Each bird, from swallow winnowing the air of insect pests, to scavenging gull and vulture, has its part to perform in the great scheme of Creation. GENE STRATTON-PORTER. Limberlost Cabin, Rome City, Indiana, U.S.A. INTRODUCTION BY W. Percival Westeix, F.Iy.S. Author of M Every Boy's Book of Geology," "The Boy's Own Nature Book," Etc., Etc. EVER since the dawn of civilisation, mankind has evinced keen interest in birds, and the reasons for this are not far to seek. Their winning ways, wonderful minstrelsy, remarkable attire, cleverly con- structed homesteads, beautifully coloured eggs, devotion to their young, and last, but by no means least, their value in the economy of life, all tend to show why our feathered friends have made such an irresistible appeal to both town and country dwellers everywhere. Of more recent years, their wonderful migration movements have interested, nay fascinated, those of us who so lovingly tread the byways of Birdland in a manner never before made possible in the history of the world. To the sportsman, bird dealer, and plume hunter, these feathered bipeds have also made an undoubted claim, but a rabid sentimentalist such as myself has no patience what- soever, and no place within his ken, for such as these. Gene Stratton-Porter's sentiments coincide with mine in this connection. Give me my ears and eyes, aided for preference, by a pair of good field glasses, and I am content to watch and listen, to observe and notify, rather than to capture, maim, or slaughter these bright winsome creatures, whose right it is to share with ourselves the beneficence of the sunshine and the glorious in-breathing of the air. I make no idle boast of the belief I hold that every created thing serves some good purpose to the great scheme of life, and it is only the poverty of our knowledge Introduction 17 or our lack of appreciation or understanding, that so often results in the woeful condemnation of this or that. Prove to me up to the hilt that any one thing that lives does not fulfil some useful link in the immense chain of existence, and to my mind the whole scheme of creation falls toppling to the ground. But enough of this moralis- ing. Let us to the fields and woods to listen to the birdland orchestra, or to be conducted by the Author to the rockgirt shores of our treasure island home so as to watch the seabirds both at work and play. There one shall find respite and relaxation from the busy turmoil of a topsey-turvey world at a period when the mind sorely demands some solace and stimulant such as Nature alone can offer. Birds, as I have stated in ' ' My Life as a Naturalist," and several other volumes which have met with so much encouraging success from an appreciative Nature loving public, were my early love and I shall always retain a warm place in my affections for these cheery heralds of the Spring and Winter's frost and snow The nightingale visits my dining-room every Summer, the Redbreast persists in curtseying to me and feeding from my hand, and I have noted over sixty different species of birds in and around my home-made garden at Letchworth Garden City. These feathered visitors afford me unfeigned delight at all times, and are so con- scious of protection that, my ire during the fruit season, is frustrated because of the good they otherwise do and the immense pleasure they afford during my country pilgrimages. In the great play that's never done birds occupy a very important part, and it is difficult to conjure up those far off days when there were no birds and no flowers, a birdless and a flowerless world. We live to-day in the most beautiful period in the world's history, and when civilisation awakes to its real sense of proportion we shall all, as Ruskin predicted, return to Nature. Then, let us fervently hope, we shall, in the words of Ralph Walds Emerson, ' ' walk with her trustingly, scorning 18 Introduction notliing, rejecting nothing, and rejoicing always in the truth." The Author of this volume has had exceptional opportunities for studying various kinds of feathered fowl in their own homes, and if his experiences help to arouse greater interest in the pure science of Ornithology he will have done yeoman service on behalf of a fascinat- ing life-study which lies very near and dear to my own heart. W. PERCIVAL WESTELL, F.L.S. Vernlum, Letchworth. Hertfordshire January, 1922 THE BIRDS OF LEWIS, HEBRIDES. RECENTLY, on the kind invitation of the owner of Lewis, or Lews — as the original name is — Rt. Hon. Lord Leverhulrne, I visited the Island to take a natuialist's survey of this famous haunt of biids. I arrived at Lochalsh to take steamer for Stornoway on August the first, and during the voyage, which usually takes six hours — for this Glasgow boat is a slow one, doing about ten knots at most — I saw several species of gulls, either disporting themselves in the wate?, or following the vessel in quest of broken bits thrown over- board. Furtht t in the Minch I descried bunches of the Little Stint, the usual frequenters of most island shores. Now an early Widgeon comes into view, and then one sees a darting swift descend in the wake of the vessel. This is the Skua, who has noticed the gull in the act of taking a herring or other fish, and who piomptly descends to wrest the morsel, as is his custom. Still further out, with the aid of glasses I saw the Gannet in its hawklike plunge to the " briny," evidently after herring. The shades of evening put a stop to further investigation. Next morning I visited Stornoway Castle and grounds — of which I learned later there are no less than twenty miles of paths formed mostly in terraces, amid circuitous routes, amongst the most picturesque sylvan scenery of woodland, and bordered by the delightful sea reach. Here I came across skeletons and feathers of song- birds, and herein lies a tale. I found the hawks in possession — Sparrow-hawk, Merlin, and Kestrel, all had contributed to the spoliation of the beautiful singing species of the countryside. I reported this. My next place of vantage was the Port of Ness and the Butt of Lewis, in the extreme north of the island, Here I remained for a fortnight, and I was amply repaid for this visit. The Kittiwakes were seen resting on many of the rock ledges, and flitting to and fro uttering their customary shrill cry. Further out Cormorants flew just over the crest of the wave, and now and again the great Black- 20 Wild Birds and their Haunts back in stately fashion winged its flight. Gannet or Solan Geese were extraordinarily numerous, the flocks coming and going to and from Coundal Bay in quick succession. The chief officer of the Light-house described the proceduie of capturing these birds, other than by a gun. ' ' We usually tie a herring to a flat piece of boaid and place it on the wave. Presently down comes the Gannet and pounces on the fish, to get its neck broken on the piece of board, and a boat is at once put off for the dead bird." " This is done," said he " whenever we are short of a meal." The explanation of a well-known naturalist that the Gannets ' ' follow the shoals of herring and mackerel," does not, in my opinion, satisfactorily solve the problem as regards this particular locality. The Butt of Lewis being the extreme turning point or gateway from the Minch to the open West Atlantic, and centrally situated between the gannetries of St. Kilda Sulesgeir, and Stack of Skerry, is doubtless the reason for so many passing, but leaves us none the wiser as to whether they are St. Kilda or Stack Gannets, nor what necessitates their quest so far afield. From the Butt, St. Kilda is about 90 miles S.W., Sulesgeir about 30 north, and the Stack about 65 in N.N.E. direction. At these gannetries J. H. Gurney, in his interesting book on the Gannet gives the number of birds approximately as 30,000 at the St. Kilda group of islets, and 8,000 at each of the other two places. A compulsory close season of the herring fishing in this district did not to any extent affect the number of Gannets passing. They were seen earlier and more rmmerous in January, 1915, than usual, then occurred a blank for two weeks, before a gradual and continued increase of passing birds set in. So numerous and continuous were they passing in large flocks from S.E. to S.W. during the first week of April that from a certain standpoint it was possible to see with one sweep of the eye, a lane of at least a thousand birds in flight. At the outset it may be stated that early hatching of Gannets at the Bass Rock is 10th May ; late, end of July. At these farther north gannetries mentioned the first Birds of Lewis, Hebrides 21 or second week of June is probably the earliest date of hatching. I saw flocks of golden plover, field fares, and Curlews, and the rock pigeons were more numerous than any others, incessantly going to and form the patches ot barley and oats, which with the potato patches, form the harvest of the fisherman-crofter in these parts. I next visited Doune Tower, a moorland rendezvous situated some five miles from the Port of Ness. On this journey I was accompanied by Mr. Nicholson, a native, and one of the best naturalists it has been my pleasure to meet. Here I saw the young of a species — the Fulmar — for the first time — a species of Gull. On the ledges beneath the Doune Tower, five or six of the young could plainly be seen — birds of some six weeks or two months old, preparing to go seawards. This is the bird from whose feathers the rent of the Island of St. Kilda is paid. It is said that 250 lbs. of * ' down ' ' is collected to pay the rent, and an oil is ex- tracted from the stomach which enables the St. Kildians to have light for their lamps, etc. Although it was late in the season for the collection of eggs, I contrived to bring away those of the Black Guillemot, Brindled Guillemot, Fulmar, Twist-tailed- Petrel, Twist-tailed Gull, Kittiwake, Rock Pigeon, Skua, and the gulls of several other varieties. The autumn migration was scarcely begun by the end of August, otherwise my account of the birds would have been much more lengthy and interesting. I can imagine this Island to be " par excellence," a veritable paradise foi the naturalist, and under the beneficent rule of the present owner the resources of bird-life, fishing, poultry 1 earing, and gaidening, will be tapped to its utmost, and forestiy. The Island sometimes called Long Island — is forty miles long, and has an average width of fifteen miles, and in pre-war times had a population of 35,000, Storno- way — an exceedingly busy fishing port — has a population roughly computed at 4,000. The " Sheila " calls every two days, at midnight, for mails and commissariat, and to set down and convey passengers and merchandise. 22 WiivD Birds and their Haunts OCCURRENCES OF RARE BIRDS. DURING the migration peiiod — say from early September to the beginning of March — many rare specimens of bird tribe are seen, and oft-times captured, on the North-East coast. They also aie seen in flocks in the winter thus — The Little Auk, whose breeding-place is circum-polar — for a celebrated Arctic traveller, Captain Fielden, found it nesting in latitude 82 °, north — -was brought to the writer on January 23, 1909, and on two previous occasions this handsomely plumaged bird was captured this season. A very rare visitant is the Rough-legged Buzzard, and it is now some five years since last seen on the coast. The Golden Eyes (Garrot) comes into view every year, and there are evidences of its visit, year by year, in the stuffed specimens exhibited in several of the cottages of the fishermen of the north, along the stretch of coast. Another rare bird is the Shoveller. Indeed, amongst the natives of a certain island it is affirmed that this bird bred here a few years ago. One man states that he received the sum of ten shillings for a single nest of eggs, whilst individuals inform me that they used often to find the eggs. It comes now but rarely, and appears to have been scared away by those who should have protected it. Of the Pintail, two have been taken since Chiistmas last. Of the long -tailed ducks, I,oid William Percy, of Alnwick Castle, shot the last from a coble outside the bar. It is curious to note the vernacular term applied to these ducks, for instance the male is called by the natives " Jacky Foster" and the female " Jennie." Richardson's Skua is an autumn visitant, and is easily distinguished from the others of the species by its swifter flight and darker plumage. Its eggs are somewhat similar to the true gulls. Very rarely does it take the trouble to seek food for itself but lives almost exclusively on the depredations of the gulls and terns. This species of gull usually derive their entire food from the pursuit of other Occurrences of Rare Birds 23 birds, using what they are made to disgorge. I spent a most agreeable half-hour in September watching the manoeuvres of this bird in its method of prey-seeking. Its rapid, darting flight was most noticeable, and its general method of attack proved most interesting. It is not of the diving species, as has been affirmed by some writers, no gulls are. The Scaup (pochard) may be seen at any time during the winter months, in various places on the coast, and the red-headed scaup is also seen here, but rarely. These birds are known locally by the term " covey." The Snow-Bunting may be singled out as an exceed- ingly rare visitor, save in hard winters, though it occurs all along the Yorkshire coast. Several were discovered during the snowy weather in early February, a" 909, and then they appeared tame. They usually are common in the British Isles in November. Not less rare is the Great Grey Shrike, a casual winter visitant, whilst the Spoonbill ranks neaily as rare. The Arctic and Sandwich Terns may be seen all the summei, for they make Fames their breeding ground. The Roseate Tern is represented by just a couple of pairs on the Knoxes, Fame Islands, during the period of in- cubation. The Razor-Bill, known locally also by the name of " Willick " among the natives (who probably confound this bird with the spoonbill when seen on the wing), has been seen and captured many times. The Puffin, or sea-parrot, called also ' ' Tommy Noddy " — which is probably a corruption of the Scotch, ' ' Tammy Norrie " — is very common, and may be descried in com- pany with the Guillemots, both of which breed on the friendly Fames, Bass Rock, and especially St. Kilda. Neither of these make nests. The former usually selects a rabbit burrow, and lays the eggs on the bare ground, some ten or twelve inches from the surface, and woe to the inquisitive person who essays to thrust his hand into the hole, for a decisive peck will instantly be meted out as a punishment. Of the Scoter family of ducks, both the common and 24 Wild Birds and thier Haunts velvet — the latter a tine bird — are found, and preserved specimens can be seen. The surf -Scoter is never met with. The latter is an American duck. The Merganser has often been seen and captured in the harbours and creeks from the Firth of Forth to the Yorkshire Coast. There is a bird which attracts many, viz., the Great Northern Diver, an excellent specimen having been shot this year in January by Lord William Percy and visiting fowlers. Cormorants, Eider-ducks, and Shell-ducks may be seen at any time breeding in large numbers on the Fame Islands, and along the East coast southwards and north. It should be noted in passing that it is a common practice in China to tame and use this bird (Cormorant) for taking fish. A ring is fastened round the lower part of its neck, to prevent it swallowing the fish it catches, and thus its owner increases his revenue by its exertions. At one time an ingenious islander adopted the same plan, and was equally successful. The two latter species {Eider and Shell-duck) make their nesting haunts on the Fames, the latter sometimes prefers the mainland opposite these islands for incubation. Very rarely do either succeed in hatching their eggs, because of the rascally gulls, who are ever on the alert to steal the eggs, should the mother birds leave the nests uncovered for any time. Oyster-catchers or Sea-pies are numerous, and so are Godwits or Speeths everywhere on the coast. The great attraction which this Holy island holds out to sportsmen is centred in the dense numbers of Widgeon, Mallard, Curlew, Teal, Plover (green, grey, and golden), and Brent Geese. It is no exaggeration to say that they arrive in clouds, and can be observed thousands strong in the air and also on mud flats, feeding on the widgeon grass, or " Zostera Marina." These sportsmen have usually a lively time of it, bringing to shore from twenty to eighty per day. The writer inspected the victims of two shots by the swivel punt gun once when he counted eighty birds, chiefly widgeon and mallard, with a sprinkling of leal. Occurrences of Rare Birds 25 During one week in the previous month (November) the sum total brought in by punts and shore gunners reached two hundred and thirty-five birds. The brent this year at a certain place, have been ex- ceedingly wary, and only some thirty of this kind have been brought down, though they have been as numerous as ever. Fame Islands has been called the " birds' sanctuary," and judging by the numbers at ebb and half -flood tides, it is patent that the locality is a great attraction for the winged tribe, though whether — judging by the slaughter in its vicinity — it is really in the true sense a sanctuary or hallowed spot, I will leave my readers to form an opinion. It should be mentioned that the Water Rail was shot a season or two ago, and can be seen preserved, and the pretty purple Sand-piper or " Tinker " is often met with. Every kind of bird may be seen at times on the shores, from the diminutive Golden-crested Wren — which usually arrive in large numbers in mid-November — to the huge Heron and the gigantic Crane, a monster standing six feet, but of the latter it should in all truth be stated that this bird has made only one appearance, in November last, within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. From some correspondence in the " Field," it appears the bird escaped from a private collection at Moipeth. For several years it has been noted that visits are paid by the Hoopers, or Wild Swans, in parties of four, six, or even eight, and these visits have been annual, mostly during severe weather. A string of fourteen were seen to pass over the ' ' I^aw " in close proximity to the harbour. They were evidently making for Budle Bay, which is in a south-easteily dir