chough. 255 



and the Chough's last appearance in that county was at 

 Bagborough, quite away from the sea, where, in April, 1868, 

 a pair seemed disposed to build in the church-tower, until 

 they were shot. On the northern shore of the Bristol 

 Channel, ' and thence round Wales, a good many spots, 

 chiefly in the counties of Glamorgan, Pembroke, Anglesey, 

 Flint and Denbigh, appear to be still inhabited by the Chough 

 In the county last named, Montagu says that a pair had bred 

 for many years on the ruins of a castle in the vale of Llan- 

 gollen. Further to the north Mr. Brockholes stated, in 1874, 

 that he had some years before met with a flock in a field at 

 Leasowe in Cheshire. It was reported to Mr. More as breed- 

 ing occasionally in Westmoreland and regularly in Cumber- 

 land, and it was formerly resident in the Isle of Man, 

 particularly its southern part and the rock called the Calf of 

 Man, where it used to breed, and may perhaps still do so.* 



In Scotland, as Mr. Gray well remarks, the history of this 

 bird presents some facts worthy of notice. Bishop Leslie in 

 his treatise ' De Origine &c. Scotoruru ' published in 1578 

 (Ed. 1675, p. 17) stated that it bred in his time between 

 St. Abb's Head and Fast Castle, where, according to Dr. G. 

 Johnston, in 1832, Mr. A. Baird found it so doing (Hist. 

 Berw. Nat. Club, i. p. 6). Turnbull, in 1867, supposed that 

 the stock was reduced to a single pair ; but Mr. Gray, about 

 1869, said it was questionable whether one had been seen 

 there, its only station on the east coast of our island, or at 

 Troup Head, which was formerly another of its haunts, for 

 the last ten or fifteen years. Moreover, it appears certain 

 that not so very long ago this bird inhabited inland stations 

 from which it has utterly vanished — as the Corra Linn, the 

 Campsie Fells, the Clova Mountains, Glenlyon and Achmore 

 — particulars respecting which are given in detail by Mr. 

 Gray. Islay seems to be the only place in Scotland where it 

 has preserved its numbers, for from the Solway to Skye, at 



* A few instances of Choughs straying from their haunts have been recorded. 

 Thus Mr. Lees mentions (Mag. N. II. i. p. 394) one shot in Worcestershire, Novem- 

 ber 1826 ; an anonymous writer (Field Nat. i. p. 129) one killed in Wiltshire, 

 August 1832, Mr. A. C. Smith another in the same county, and Blyth (Mag. N. 

 II. ix. p. 636) one that occurred in Surrey. Two more are noticed by Mr. Morris. 



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