33 



3. — XOTES ON BiKDS OBSEKVED NEAE HlTCniN. 



By James H. Tuke. 



Communicated by J. E. Littleboy, 



[Read 8th Xovcmber, 1877.] 



Oaving to the unwearied and savage warfare waged against vermin 

 by the gamekeepers, the Raptores are daily becoming scarcer and 

 scarcer, and, with the exception of a few kestrels or sparrow-hawks, 

 they are almost extinct. One merlin and one common buzzard have 

 come to my knowledge during the past ten years. The brown owl, 

 the barn owl, and the long-eared owl, all breed occasionally, but 

 in spite of the services they render, they are shot whenever seen. 

 The short-eared owl is an autumn visitor. In passing, I may notice 

 the very early incubation of the long-eared owl. One egg I possess 

 was taken about the middle of February. The magpie, from the 

 cause mentioned above, is extinct in our neighbourhood, but the 

 bright blue of the jay's wing is happily seen, and its harsh cry 

 still heard in the woods. The carrion crow is also rarely seen. The 

 grey shrike has been obtained at intervals, and I am inclined to 

 think would be found to breed if carefully sought for. The common 

 shrike is very plentiful, and its "larder" may not unfrequently be 

 found. A bird-stuiier in the town informs me that he had ten 

 dozen of their eggs brought to him one season. Usually he has 

 four or five dozen in the season, but whether owing to the ' ' Preser- 

 vation Act," or the higher wages, which make the boys indifferent 

 about the pence, he has had comparatively few eggs brought him 

 during the three or four past years. Three or four dozen nightin- 

 gales' eggs were previously brought him each season, but for three 

 years he has had none brought him for sale. The goat-sucker 

 breeds in considerable numbers on Mardley Heath, about eight 

 miles from Hitcliin, but is only here occasionally. The ring ousel 

 is a passing visitor, but rare. 



This district seems to me marked by the absence of several birds 

 either common or by no means rare in other nearly similar districts. 

 Among these, the pied flycatcher, the woodlark, the tree pipit, the 

 tree sparrow, and the wood-wren are marked examples. The titlark 

 even is rare. On the other hand, the hawfinch breeds here in con- 

 siderable abundance, and, as noticed above, the common slirike is 

 also plentiful. The reed warbler and the grasshopper warbler are 

 by no means uncommon. The swift is very plentiful here, and not 

 less than ten pairs breed yearly in the roof of my house, much to 

 my pleasure. The green woodpecker yearly becomes scarcer, but 

 the spotted is frequently heard, though difiicult to see. The wry- 

 neck is very abundant and the nuthatch is not uncommon. King- 

 fishers also are numerous. 



In a district nearly devoid of streams we can have little opportu- 

 nity of noticing the Waders, and the only one which has come 



VOL. II. — PT. I. 3 



