Museum, of a specimen which was shot near Ormskirk, in
Lancashire : in October, 1809, according to Graves, hut
respecting this and another example, Bullock himself
writes as follows (Trans. Linn.Soc. xi. p. 177)
“ The first instance of this bird having been killed in
Britain occurred in 1807, when one was shotun- the neighbourhood
of Ormskirk, in Lancashire: it was preserved by
Mr. J. Sherlock, of that place, from whom I purchased :it
a few days afterwards.* On the 16th of August lasi-{1312]
I killed another specimen of this bird in the Mé oiSfeist,
about three miles from the northern extremity of Britain.
When I first discovered it-' it roge within a few feet and^flew
round me in the manner of a Swallow, and tfeem-Ahghted
dose to the head of a cow that was tetlièred„within ten
yards’ distance. After examining "it a few 'fifnnutes, fj
returned to the house of T. Edmondson, Esq.; för my gun,
and, accompanied by that gentleman’s brother,^ went in
search of it. After a short time it c an fë ^ lï 'of'"Some
growing corn, and was e&tchihg-insects at the time T firèd;
and, being only wounded in the wing,^we had5 an opportunity
of examining it alive. In the form ofTts hill, wings,
and tail, as well as its mode of flighty it;greatly resembleb
the genus Hirwndo; but, tcontrary te the whole ?©f this
family, the legs were and bare above tl"e knee, agreeing
with Tringa; and, .like the Sandpipers, it ran with the
greatest, rapidity -when on the. ground, or in shallow water,
in pursuit ' of‘its food, which was wholly-of flies, of which
its. stomach was full. It-was a male, and weighed-v^oz.
The bird filled near Ormskirk v'as„ in fhevcohection .of
the Tate F^<r1 of Derby. The .qt|fejr „remained in Mr. Bul-
loek’.s possession till the sale -of the-contents ©ƒ his piusgum
in_18;19j when- the -Authpr finds, by a reference to his
priced catalogue, that this .specimen' from rShetknd-produeed
£8. 8s., and was -transferred toVthe 'British Mtfseuip^,
Mr. Joseph Clarke, of Saffioh Walden, sent word t | the
' *- Montagu, apparehtlyfcalluding ‘tefth,é saffie | specimen, States that i t was
shot onY&th May, 1804-!
Author that a pair of Pratincoles was shot on the Breydon-
wall, near Yarmouth, in May, 1827, by John Bessey, a fishef-i
man, and sold to Isaac Harvey, a bird-preserver, who re-sold
them for £7. The occurrence and capture oft this pair of
Pratincoles is mentioned in the Messrs. Pagets? ^Sketch of
the Natural History of Yarmouth and its Neighbourhood ’
(p, 10). In May, 1840, another was shot upon the shore
of the harbour of Blakeney, in Norfolk, by Henry Overton, a
fowler, and passed into the possession of Mr. John Sparham,
by whom it was presented to Mr. Henry Rogers, solicitor, at
Thetford, and afterwards became the property: of MrNew? |
come,vof Eeltwell Hall, who subsequently, obtained another
shot in his. neighbourhood during the first week of June,
1868 (Zool. s.s. p. 1492).
From Mr. E. Holme, the Author learned that a Pratincole
was shot by Me, Frederick Oats, of Branston Hall,
near Lincoln, on the loth of August, 1827.
The Rev. Leonard Jenyns sent notice- of a Pratineola shot
in Wilbraham Fen, Cambridgeshire, on 21st. June, 1835,
which passed into the collection of Mr. J-. T. Martin, of Quy
Hall, in that county.
In the middle of November, 1842, a specimen of this rare
bird was shot by Mr. Hussey, at Tilshead, in the bleakest
part of Salisbury Plain, and is now in the collection of the
Rev. A.' ip! Smith, at Yateshury Rectory, .Caine, Wilts.
In May, 1844, one was shot on Staxton Wold, near
Scarborough, in company with a flight or ‘ trip ’ of Dotterel,
as recorded by,.the late.. Sir William Milner,' Bart. (Zooht*
p., 2023); one now in the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney,. <
Jumvwas said to have been shot at Bridlington, in - the-,
same county, in, February, ut850;^ and a third, obtained
near Whitby,, in October, 1871, is in the Museum of - that
town.
Oh the 7th September-, 1851, a pair was observed on a
sand-bank at the mouth1 of the river Exe, where their mbve,-
* . This example was originally assigned to Bedlington, in Northumberland,
but this is admitted £<5^%e' an error i'isf. Hancock, N. H. Trans. Noi-thumb. and
Durham, yi. p. 96, note. H
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