18
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
agree, I trust, that several matters of biological importance have
been touched upon, although, to be sure, very inadequately.
In spite of the fact that it is scarcely possible nowadays for
any individual to hope to do more than obtain a special know-
ledge of some one group of organisms, I have always advocated
the advisability of this course for those taking anything more
than a very general interest in natural history. Of course this
involves the danger, and a real one, of becoming a mere
"scarabaeist," but this is not a necessary result of specialisation.
On the contrary, owing to the fundamental relationship of all
living things, the close study of any group of organisms, however
small, should force upon the notice of the specialist many, if
not all, of the most important biological problems of the day.
And this it has been my endeavour to show.
VARIOUS NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF ESSEX.
By WILLIAM E. GLEGG, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.
(With 1 Plate and 1 Text Figure.)
THE following notes, all of which, with the exception of
those which are of a historical nature, are unpublished)
have come into my hands since the publication of A History
of the Birds of Essex. The information which has been gained
is in some instances additional knowledge, and in others is
of a supportive nature. I have to thank the following corres-
pondents for their assistance:—Messrs. H. Collar, J. E. S.
Dallas, A. F. Griffiths, J. P. Hardiman, L. S. Harley, T. H.
Harrisson, P. W. Horn, A. E. Macandrew, L. H. S. Mathews,
P. M. Meeson, W. B. Nichols, G. Nicholson, C. H. Payne (who
has kindly made some translations), R. W. Pethen, J. Ross,
Percy B. Smyth, Dr. C. B. Ticehurst, Dr. N. F. Ticehurst (who
has kindly placed at my disposal the Essex swan marks and the
historical matter), Messrs. H. F. Witherby and C. R. Wood,
and Mrs. A. S. Woodrow. All unsupported records were
obtained by the writer.
Hooded Crow (Corvus c. cornix L.). One seen with a flock
of Carrion Crows at the Lea Valley Reservoirs on 9th November,
1929.