Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/121

Rh waves, and keep further out to sea; but the Little Auks which visit our coast always seem to be adult, or nearly so, and the sea does not spare them. Among many scores I have never yet handled one young enough to have a beak smaller than the normal size, which seems singular, as young Razorbills are not uncommon. The first reported Little Auks were met with by Mr. Ernest Gunn when walking along the shore at Caistor on the 14th. These were followed on the 20th by one at Northrepps, one at Overstrand, and others at different places, amounting altogether to over fifty, chiefly by the coast; but one was carried as far as Weasenham. There was some variation in plumage, and Mr. Dye was the first to notice that sometimes the white neck was continued round the occiput. This I imagine to be perfect winter plumage; and, on the other hand, Mr. Gunn had a specimen which had acquired a good deal of the black neck of summer. Both Mr. Gunn and Mr. Lowne, who were good enough to sex their specimens, found a considerable preponderance of females.

23rd.—At Scratby Gap, near Yarmouth, Mr. Patterson, searching along the shore, found several Little Auks, Guillemots, and Puffins, or their remains—the sea's rejectamenta after a gale from the east. He also discovered some dead Starlings, and at one spot eight Rooks, which had lost their lives in crossing.

25th.—More than fifty Blue Tits† in one small beech plantation. Wind from N.N.E., with sleet.

30th.—Gale from the south.

31st.—Many Grey Crows leaving Norfolk, and the following week (April 7th) hundreds were seen following the coast-line at Horsey (Bird). They always congregate on our coast about this time (cf. Zool. 1886, p. 390).

2nd.—About April 2nd a Shag,† not adult but well advanced in plumage, was caught alive, but in a helpless condition, close to Felmingham Hall, nine miles from the sea, and subsequently sent to me in a somewhat advanced condition by Mr. Plumbly.

16th.—About this date Mr. Pashley had brought in for preservation a female Goshawk—always a rare bird with us—which