A HISTORY OF CORNWALL Lelant, where they appear almost every year, and occasionally linger till the beginning of June, and give rise to the vain hope that they may be breeding. In April, 1870, several flocks of from eight to twenty birds frequented the grounds of Trevethoe for several weeks. Treviden, near St. Burian, and the warm fairly-timbered slopes around Mount's Bay have also great attractions for this beautiful bird of passage. The fire-crest is now an erratic but constant winter visitor to the Lizard and the Penzance district. Though generally occurring in twos and threes, companies of a dozen to twenty have been occasionally seen, and in the winter of 1880-1 and in November, 1905, there must have been many hundreds scattered over the district. The hoopoe is a frequent visitor in the spring, but does not appear to linger. In addition to green and golden plover, snipe and woodcock, the winter visitors naturally include a large number of ducks. Mallard breed in the district and are always fairly common on the Loe Pool and on the fresh-water ponds and marshes of the Land's End during winter. So, too, are teal, wigeon, and shoveler, the last-named being at times the most abundant duck in the Land's End district. Pintail, pochard, and sheldrake are by no means scarce, and the other surface-feeding ducks occur irregularly. Coots are often plentiful, many hundreds appearing at a time on the Loe Pool. The red- breasted merganser is a winter visitor of regular occurrence in immature plumage, and in some years is very common. The grey-lag goose has been obtained several times. Brent and bean geese may appear in large flocks, the bernacle goose in little parties, and the white-fronted goose irregularly but not uncommonly, sometimes singly, sometimes in small gaggles, sometimes in considerable flocks. The whooper and Bewick's swans frequented Mount's Bay in some numbers during the severe winter of 1890-1. During the winter the black-headed gull often occurs in considerable numbers, particularly at Hayle. The purple sandpiper, too, is often in evidence both in Hayle estuary and Mount's Bay. The bittern is an irregular visitor to the district, but in the winters of 1880- 1, 1890-1 was fairly common. The marsh pools of the Land's End are visited every winter by a variable number of great crested, red-necked, Slavonian, and eared grebes, for the most part in immature plumage, as well as by little grebes which breed both there and by the Loe Pool. The great northern and red-throated divers occur every year off the Lizard, at Mount's Bay, and occasionally at Hayle. The black-throated diver puts in an occasional appearance, and during the last few years has occurred several times between St. Ives and Godrevy. The remarkable ornithological character of the district lies not so much in its residents and regular visitors as in the number, variety and nature of its casuals and vagrants. As the most westerly land in England, this district is naturally the seat of extensive migratory movements, and in addition offers the most convenient refuge for continental autumn and winter migrants that, passing southwards along the coast-line of the European mainland, are driven back by contrary winds and storms from the south after passing beyond the mouth of the Channel. For storm-tossed birds from the south, Mount's Bay is not only an ideal haven of refuge, but from its position is the most likely landing-place England for such as are driven northwards when weathering the western promontories of Brittany or in traversing the Bay of Biscay. In autumn and winter large flocks and detached parties of coasting birds of all kinds seek 326
