SEA-BIRDS AND PLOVERS NOTICED IN LANCA-
SHIRE AND CUMBERLAND.
By Thomas Hepburn.
The primary object of this trip—Walney Island, June 1st–3rd; Ravenglass, June 4th–5th; Boot, June 6th–9th; and Arnside, June 10th–12th, 1901—was to make myself better acquainted by actual observation with the breeding habits of some of our sea-birds and Plovers. There are numerous colonies of Black-headed Gulls and Terns in the sand-hills and marshy parts of Walney Island, and in the same style of country on either side of the mouth of the Esk at Ravenglass. At Foulshaw Moss, near Arnside, there is a large colony of Lesser Black-backed Gulls; and the margins of the tidal estuaries at Ravenglass and Arnside, and the sea beaches at all three places, form suitable haunts for various Waders and shore-loving birds. I found, however, that I had timed my visit too late for the birds breeding in the hills round Boot.
Ringed Plover (Ægialitis hiaticula).—Walney Island. Pairs of this bird were fairly numerous along the stretches of shingle beach which form part of the coast-line of the island.
Ravenglass. I found a nest in the sand-hills here, not far from the sea, containing three eggs; a cockle-shell, 1½ in. diameter, apparently taking the place of the fourth egg. The nest was a careless hollow scratched out of the sand, 5½ in. diameter by 1½ in. deep, with a few pieces of broken shell in the bottom. A nest was also shown me, which was made close under the shelter of an overhanging sand-hummock, and from which the young had just been hatched. The nest-hollow was scraped out of the sloping side of the hummock, with its projecting top about a foot over the nest, completely covering it from the sky, while some coarse grass drooping over partly concealed it in front. I could see the footprints of the young birds going away from the edge of the nest, and picked up
