ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM DEVON AND CORNWALL.
By John Gatcombe.
The following interesting varieties have lately come under my notice:—A Common Snipe, the plumage of which exhibited the usual markings of the species, but were exceedingly faint and on a buff ground: I once obtained a very similar specimen in Leadenhall Market, and have heard of others. A Blackbird having a large round pure white spot on either cheek, the rest of the plumage being of a fine black, similar to that of an ordinary old male; bill, rich yellow. Mr. Clogg, of Looe, kindly sent me a rather pretty variety of the Chaffinch, with a pure white line running through its eyes and round the back of the head, giving it a singular appearance: the plumage, otherwise, was of the usual tint. I may here add that the white Pipit mentioned in my last notes as being in the possession of Mr. Marshall, of Taunton, proved to be Anthus Richardi.
A short time since, when visiting a creek by the side of the St. Germains River, I witnessed a somewhat unusual and interesting sight. A flight of about thirty Redshanks were making towards a sheltered bay; but before reaching the land, to my great surprise, they all suddenly alighted on the water, much out of their depth, and quietly swam towards the shore, in a rather compact body, until their feet touched the bottom, when they waded in and commenced feeding in their usual manner. The water at the time being quite unruffled, glassy, and very clear, they were doubtless deceived as to its depth, but did not appear in the least astonished at being obliged to swim. The sight was really a pretty and interesting one, and, but for their long orange-coloured bills, they might, easily have been mistaken for a flock of Teal. Mr. Thompson, in his 'Birds of Ireland,' states that Redshanks often alight on the sea where it is deep; but, to the surprise of a shooter in Belfast Bay, on November 20th, 1847, three of these birds appeared swimming about and busily feeding on the surface of water about eight feet in depth, and, from their turning quickly about in all directions, he at first imagined they were Gray Phalaropes.
On March 6th I heard Herring Gulls crying in the air, as they do during the nesting season, and many Pied Wagtails had nearly assumed their perfect summer dress. Curlews were numerous on
