Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 1 (1843).djvu/392

364 which is, as your readers are no doubt aware, the plumage of birds of the year.—Edward Hearle Rodd; Penzance, October 14, 1843.

Note on the occurrence of the Spoonbill in Cornwall. On the evening of the 13th instant, a flock of eleven white spoonbills was seen to fly over Hayle, in the western part of Cornwall; they were at length observed to alight in some marshy ground in the parish of Gwithian, on the north coast, a little to the eastward of St. Ives. Seven of them were shot, four of which I have had an opportunity of examining, and in their general appearance they display a more adult cast of plumage than either of the two Cornish examples which I have succeeded in obtaining before. The plumage of those at present under notice is free from any impurity in its whiteness, and there is a roseate blush observable in some of the dorsal feathers, towards their roots, this tint being especially apparent in, and as it were radiating from, the shafts of the feathers. Some of the specimens possess a much more extended bill than others, the excess amounting to an inch at least. The whole are without an occipital crest, or dorsal plumes, and it may be a question whether those specimens having bills so much longer than the others, may not be old birds in winter plumage. There is no yellow tint in any portion of the bills of any of the specimens; the colour being dark livid with a shade of flesh-colour.—Id.

Note on the Habits of the Dabchick. The little grebe or dabchick is a constant resident either upon the small broads or fleets on the marshes of this neighbourhood, or of the creeks and arms of the sea intersecting them, keeping during the autumnal and winter months in small flocks. Truly aquatic in habit, they seldom quit their favourite element, upon which indeed they can alone trust themselves in safety, or procure their living; there, perfectly' at home, they ride and dive the live-long day; buoyant and light, they sit upon the surface of the water, or pursue their way below it with ease and speed. Upon the first appearance of danger down they go, and make for the sedge- or rush-grown sides wherein to conceal themselves, and where, if hard pressed, they will skulk among the herbage, with only their bill above water for respiration; and once alarmed, you no longer see them dancing cork-like on the ripple of the water,—they then, in common with other diving species, have the power of immersing themselves deeper, thus being a far less conspicuous object and safer from the gunner's aim. Sometimes when suddenly surprised, they appear from fright to be unable, at the moment, to seek safety in their usual and natural way by diving, but flack along the surface of the water, for some distance previously; yet incapable as they appear of locomotion, except in the element for which all their parts are so well adapted, they by some means or other frequently manage to surmount the tops of our sea-walls. Some days the little groups will be seen fishing in the creeks outside, none being about their inland haunts; the next day will perhaps find them transferred to the marshes: these frequent changes cannot possibly be effected except by crossing the walls, and are, I should imagine, performed by night. During the pairing season they are often seen taking short voluntary flights, or rather flackings, along the surface of the water. Their nests are placed in the thick water-plants or reeds growing upon the sides of the marshy waters, and consist of a large quantity of material,—flags, reeds, or any aquatic plants, sometimes of rushes broken into short pieces, and built up on a solid foundation from the bottom, to six inches or a foot above the surface, subject to variation from the rising or wasting of the water. Upon the top of this fabric are deposited from four to six eggs, perfectly white when first laid but soon stained by being in contact with the moist plants, so much so that they may frequently be seen of a dark