BIRDS 178. Whimbrel. Numenius phaeopus (hinn.). Occasional. A small flock was seen by Mr. F. M. Burton on the Welland in 1855. One was shot at Seaton before 1883, an- other at Burley on 2 October 1890, and a third was seen there in April 1905. 179. Black Tern. Hydrochelidon nigra (Lmn.). Commonest of the terns, but now seldom seen. Between 1886 and 1 903 seven speci- mens have been shot at Burley and Thorpe by Water, while one was found injured at Gret- ton on 28 April 1900. 180. Common Tern. Sterna fluviat!/is,'Nau- mann. A. C. Elliot, in his 1883 list of Rutland birds, speaks of it as common, but there is no evidence that it was anything but a rare straggler. One was picked up, injured, in Exton Park in i860 ; a second, a fine adult, was killed at Burley Ponds in 1886 ; and a third obtained there in December 1904. 181. Arctic Tern. Sterna macrura, Nau- mann. Very occasional. Occurred in Rutland according to James Harley in 1842. A single specimen was shot at Oakham about 1883, and there are two in the Burley House collection, which may have been obtained there. 182. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn. Only three cases. One was killed about 1890 at Burley Ponds ; a second was seen at Exton Ponds in 1 90 1, and a third was shot there in 1896. 183. Bonaparte's Gull. Larus Philadelphia^ Ord. In 1 897 an uncommon gull was shot at Burley Ponds by the keeper, C. Masters. Mr. William R. Hine, of Southport, a com- petent authority, happening to be at the keeper's lodge at the time, positively identified the bird as a Bonaparte's gull. He cut off the wings and took them away with him. When I wrote to him in 1 901, he said he had mislaid the wings, but assured me that his identification was correct, and that he was well acquainted with the bird in Canada. It certainly was not a black-headed gull [Larus ridibundus^, as its legs were pale orange and not rose-madder in colour. It was in imma- ture plumage, and had slate-black ear-coverts. The keeper who killed it, was familiar with the common gull (Z-. canus), kittiwake, and other gulls, but declared it was not one of these. As the specimen was handled in the flesh and identified by a judge familiar with the gulls, and especially with the one in ques- tion, and as reasons are given why it could not have belonged to any of the commoner sorts which resemble Larus Philadelphia, I have no hesitation in including this species. 184. Little Gull. Larus minutus, Pallas. One appears to have been killed at Burley Ponds about 1882. 185. Black-headed or Brown-headed Gull. Larus ridibundus, Linn. The most plentiful in Rutland after the herring-gull, and increased in late years. On 26 March 1898 over four hundred gulls were seen in Exton Park, and some of them doubtless were of this species. Similarly among hundreds of gulls seen on the Gretton Meadows on 24 February 1899, numbers were 'laughing gulls.' On 28 February 1902 I counted twenty near Barrowden on the flooded meadows, in company with forty herring-gulls. Eleven were seen in breeding plumage as late as 5 May 1903, by Mr. W. J. Horn on the Welland. 186. Common Gull. Larus canus, lAnn. Individuals, or small parties ot two or three birds, seen occasionally here and there throughout the district during the autumn and winter months. But Mr. W. J. Horn saw three by the Welland on 5 May 1 903. 187. Herring-Gull. Larus argentatus, J. F. Gmelin. The species now most often seen in Rut- land. Sometimes as many as a hundred are seen in the Welland valley during January and February and March. They occasion- ally appear also in April, and again in July and August. 188. Lesser Black-backed Gull. Larus fuscus, Linn. One was shot at Ridlington about i860, and it has been recorded since at Burley, Morcott, Barrowden, and Empingham, but it is not often seen. 189. Greater Black-backed Gull. Larus marinus, Linn. A mere straggler. Three instances only arc on record : Ridlington, about i860 ; Burley, about 1882 ; Uppingham, about 1886. 75
