Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/484

414 Menai Bridge. On May 19th, when we first visited this pool, we found the floating nest of a Dabchick moored in a bed of Equisetum; and, on removing the sodden covering of weed, we found five eggs, four belonging to the legitimate owner, and one being that of a Moorhen. The only other spot where we met with the Dabchick was on Llyn Llwydiarth, where we saw a pair on June 9th.

At dusk we heard the churring of the Nightjar in many parts of the sand-hills. In one place we saw a pair of Merlins which were evidently nesting; we were also shown eggs which had been taken from a nest in the maram-grass more than two miles from this spot. A colony of about forty pairs of Common Terns had their nests on the summits of the sand-hills near Aber Menai Point, and a few pairs of Lesser Terns had eggs in the shingle in the same locality, and on the sands of the Malldraeth Estuary. On June 12th, when we were near the colony of Common Terns, two Great Black-backed Gulls passed over; they were hotly pursued by the Terns, as were the Herring-Gulls which drifted by from time to time. When the big Gulls pitched on the sand we could see that one was an adult, and the other not fully mature, having the back lighter, and the tail tipped with black. On this day we found eggs of the Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover near Aber Menai. Both species were plentiful along the beach, the former often in flocks; the previous day we saw between fifty and sixty on the saltings near Malldraeth. Blackheaded Gulls were abundant in the upper part of the estuary.

During May and June the majority of the Curlews are on their breeding-grounds, but we saw a few in the Straits, and on the Malldraeth Estuary. The Whimbrel, however, is more in evidence at this time; we saw the bird near Beaumaris, in the Straits below the Bridges, and in Malldraeth Estuary. On May 18th we watched a party of twelve at low water on the shore below Llanidan. Their characteristic cry, uttered especially on the wing, first drew our attention to the birds, which were feeding on the exposed banks, or wading belly-deep in the pools. In the strong sunlight the light stripe on the crown was very conspicuous when the birds lowered their heads to feed.

Malldraeth Estuary at low water is a broad expanse of sand, with many shallow lagoons, separated from the Warren by an