238 THE BIRDS OF ESSEX.
On May 7th, 1882, I saw several on Wanstead Flats. They were probably
breeding in the vicinity. In 1877, there was a nest at Stanford Rivers. In April,
1884, I saw some, evidently nesting, in a field near Dunton. It also breeds on
Osey Island, where in 1879 twenty-two nests were found in one day, while Mr.
Fitch states (50. i. 150) that upwards of 300 eggs were taken on his various
farms round Maldon in 1887. Yarrell says (14. ii. 418) that in his time a
large proportion of the eggs sent to the London markets came from the
marshes of Essex, and other adjacent counties, but this is certainly not the case
now. Walter Charleton, in his Onomasticon Zoicon (1668. p. 108), says of the
" Vanellus " :—
" In Essexia, est Insula quaedam haud magni circuitus, quae ab ingenti avium
harum copia, eo praecise ad diem Divo Georgio sacrum advolante, nomen suum,
Foulness nempe, hoc est avium promontarium, fortita est, uti est Fullero nostro
notavit supra laudatus D. Dr. Merret. Huic Vanello Congener Est."
Round Orsett, they are " common enough on the marshes and fens, in spring
and summer. About the beginning of August they leave for the uplands, where
they remain until the middle of March, when they return to their breeding
haunts " (Sackett). Round Harwich, it "breeds commonly " (Kerry).
Oyster-catcher: Haematopus ostralegus. Locally, "Olive"or
"Olaf" and " Sea Pie."
A scarce resident on our coast, where it formerly bred not uncom-
monly, but now best known as a fairly-common visitor to our shore
from autumn to spring.
Dale says (2. 400) : " This I have seen in Maldon Channel." Lindsey says
(27. App. 52) it was well-known in 1851 on the shore at Harwich. Mr. Kerry
states that it is now fairly common there and stays all the year round, from which
he infers that it breeds in the neighbourhood. This is probably the case, as in
1873 I saw eggs taken on Stony Point by an old fisherman known as " Noah,"
who used to live on the Point in a rude hut.* Mr. J. F. T. Wiseman informs me
it does not now breed near Paglesham, though it used to do so in some numbers.
Mr. Bond found it (23. 39) common round Southend early in Sept., 1842. The
Rev. J. C. Atkinson says (36. 117) :
" It runs well, and is even said to dive and swim with facility. I never saw
this, though I have had them under my observation for hours together in former
days. But I know their shrill, rattling whistle, and their short uneasy flights, and
restless paddlings up and down upon the ooze, when I have been among their
haunts, well—and many a nest it used to be my lot to discover on some parts of
some of the Essex Saltings."
Mr. Atkinson writes me: —" It bred commonly along the Tollesbury, Wig-
borough and Peldon Saltings in my young days. I have found many scores of its
nests." King, in 1838, says (20) :
[I was] " walking one day on the banks of the Stour, at a time its waters had
been drawn off to facilitate repairs. On reaching a bend of the river, one of these
birds rose and flew rapidly away, following the windings of the river. It appeared
to settle on the mud at a considerable distance. I was not before aware that it
ever came so far inland."
In the winter of 1886-7 one frequented the large open sheet of water in Wan-
* Mr. Kerry has since informed me that a pair undoubtedly bred on the Point in 1889. Their
first eggs were taken and brought to him for identification, but they successfully reared a second
brood.