Upon being again disturbed, it rose without effort and flew away. If this account be correct, and I have no reason whatever to doubt it, it would shew, that woodcocks in their annual flights, very probably settle on the water when they are fatigued to rest themselves; and snipes perhaps do the same. The summer snipe not only swims, but also dives when wounded. This has been frequently observed by persons who are in the habit of shooting them, when they are found on the banks of the river Thames. That wood While on the subject of these birds, I may mention it as a curious fact, that both snipes and woodcocks are fattest in frosty weather-a circumstance difficult to be accounted for. cocks breed freely in this country is now placed beyond a doubt. I passed the 26th and 27th of June, this year (1834), with the kind and hospitable owner of Hollycombe, in Sussex; on each of these days I partook of a brace of young woodcocks; they were fat and excellent eating, and nearly full grown; their flesh was whiter than that of old birds; they begin to breed in the Hollycombe woods early in the year, generally about the middle of February. A hen woodcock with her young ones may frequently be seen in the woods, and sometimes running across the grass, opposite the house. I have seen one or two specimens of woodcocks of a light hazel brown colour, one of which was shot in Sussex, and a white one was frequently seen in Mr. Talbot's woods, in Glamorganshire: the female is larger than the male. I have no doubt but that with a little care and trouble, young woodcocks, which had been hatched under a bantam hen, might be brought up and domesticated. It is remarkable how readily birds, even those which seldom frequent the haunts of man, may be brought to place some degree of confidence in him. The family of H. Peter, Esq., of Harlyn, on the north coast of Cornwall, one morning at breakfast time, threw a piece of bread out of the window to a stray sea-gull, which happened to have made its appearance at the moment; the bird ate the bread and flew away. The next day, at the same hour, he appeared again, was again fed, and departed. From this time, for a period of eighteen years, the gull never failed to shew himself at the window every morning at the same hour, and to stalk up and down till he had received his meal (a basin of bread and milk), when he instantly took his leave till the next morning. The only time he omitted to do this was during the period of the pilchards being on the coast, which lasted about six weeks in each year, and at this time he omitted his morning visit. At length he brought one of his own species with him to partake of his meal, and they continued to come together daily for about a fortnight, when they suddenly disappeared, and were never seen afterwards. 'There is endless room for observation in the wide field of 'natural history, which is boundless, yet investigation (where a 'man endeavours to be sure of his facts) can make but slow pró'gress; and all that one could collect in many years would go ' into a very narrow compass.' MR. WHITE. WE are indebted to Mr. White for a list of the summer birds of passage which he had discovered in his neighbourhood. His notices of them form not the least agreeable and useful part of his work on natural history. His accuracy remains undoubted, and the pleasure we derive from his remarks are undiminished. I am tempted to follow his example by laying before my readers a list of birds which have been found in a particular district in Suffolk. It will not have the charm of those short and pleasing notices which are added to Mr. White's list, but it will be found equally accurate; and it may induce some naturalist in another part of England to compare it with his, and perhaps to favour me with another catalogue and methodus of local birds. I have no merit to claim for the following list, being indebted for it to the Rev. J. Mitford, of Benhall, in Suffolk, whose talents and researches are already well known, both as a naturalist and an author. I should mention that most of the birds were shot on the Snape River. It is a broad winding river, which enters the sea at Orford, and is a favourite resort of sea birds. List of Birds killed in Suffolk, and places where killed. Sea Eagle. Falco ossifragus. Culpho, Yoxford and Triston. Rough-legged Falcon. Falco lagopus. Haslewood, near Ald borough. Stone Falcon. Falco lithofolis. Theberton. Ash-coloured Shrike. Lanius excubitor. Snape, near Aldborough. Waxen Chatterer. Ampelis garrulus. Great Bealings and Hollesley. Golden Oriole. Oriolus galbula. Saxmundam, Colchester. Brown Starling. Turdus solitarius. Ipswich. Ring Ousel. Turdus torquatus. Hasketon, near Woodbridge. rough. Haslewood, near Aldbo Mountain Sparrow. Fringilla montana. Hazlewood. Charadrius oedicnemus. Orford (in the Walks.) Sea Birds, and places where killed. Bittern. Ardea stellaris. Aldborough. Spoon-bill. Platalea leucordia. Thorpe-few, near Aldborough (3 killed out of 7.) Pigmy Curlew. Scolopax pygmæa. Thorpe-few. Great Snipe. Scolopax major. Yarmouth. Red Godwit. Scolopax lapponica. Thorpe-few. Spotted Redshank. Scolopax totanus. Thorpe-few. Turnstone. Tringa morinella. Aldborough. Avoset. Avosetta recurvirostra. Butley Creek, near Orford. Gallinula porzana. Snape River. Spotted Rail. Grey Phalarope. Phalaropus lobatus. Thorpe-few. Snape. |