Moody, falconer to Mr. W.H. St. Quintin, of Scampston, saw several Bean Geese at Lowthorpe, and about fifty Whooper Swans at Scampston. Two Bewick's Swans were obtained at Leyburn, and a Brent Goose on the Swale, near Thirsk. A wild Gadwall, a very scarce Duck in the county, was obtained near Scampston. I am very sorry to have to record the slaughter of five Bitterns—two near Scarborough, one near Beverley, one at Easington, Holderness, and one at Lowthorpe. Several Little Auks were got on the coast, and one was put out of a hedge-bottom and caught by a Dog about three miles from York. Towards the end of the month vast numbers of Duck were on the Humber, many flying actually into the village of Easington, in which district one man alone shot thirty to his own gun in a single day. Many Duck also came inland, and great quantities of Dunlin within ten miles of York. A wild Peregrine Falcon was observed near Scampston feeding on a Mistle-Thrush.
I cannot close these notes without referring to the very great loss all ornithologists have sustained, and especially we in Yorkshire, by the all too early deaths of Mr. John Cordeaux and Mr. H. Bendelack Hewetson during this year. They were both personal friends of mine, and both took the greatest interest in all that pertained to the bird-life of the county. Many a ramble have I had with them both with gun and field-glass in the most favoured bird resorts of the county which they both loved so well; and it seems strange now, when I visit these places, not to hear their cheery voices, and to be told by them all the latest bird news. Well, we must all come to it sooner or later, and we shall do well if, like them, we leave a few footprints behind us, however small, before we ourselves are summoned to join them in the Happy Hunting Grounds.
