JOLKNAI- OK Tin: WILD BIRD 1\ VICSTIGATION SOCIF.TY. 



29 



BIRDS OF THE WYE VALLEY. 



Bv WILLIAM C. BLAKE. 



Herefordshire will compare favourably wilh 

 anv other inland roiinly as to its avifauna. 

 It is well wooded, and varied by hills and 

 dales, while the hedgerows teem wilh 

 songsters. As in all other counties, most of 

 the marshland has been drained, which 

 accounts for the absence of bog-loving and 

 wading birds. The river Wye, however, and 

 its trihutarv brooks tempts the visitation ot 

 manv aquatic species. As everywhere else, 

 the gamekeeper (under orders') has rendered 

 almost extinct our larger raptorial species. 



From mv earliest years God's feathered 

 creation has possessed a charm for me, but 

 not until fifty years ago did I commence to 

 tabulate records or study th(> subject in a 

 svstematic manner. I am not a sportsinan 

 or a collector, of rare species. In many 

 instances, however, rare species have fallen 

 to the gun, and been sent to me for identifica- 

 tion. In some cases the specimens have been 

 offered to me for •" what I like to give," in 

 fewer cases they have been presented. Under 

 these circumstances I have gone to the ex- 

 pense of their preservation. Several species 

 have tints been added to our County List, and 

 a few have found their way to the Hereford 

 Mtiseum. Mv binocular is the onlv weapon 

 I level at birds. 



Closelv tied to business, mv opportunities 

 have been none of the best, but I have tried 

 to make the most of them. INIany have been 

 the interesting items in mv Wye-side and 

 woodland walks, conducing to health of body 

 v.ud delight of mind. These, together with 

 the observations of others with whom I have 

 been in touch, ha\e filled a manuscript 

 \olume, from which I propo.se to draw upon 

 in these notes or anv future ones. 



Ros.s-on-Wye is situated witihn four miles 

 of tile Ciloucestershire border, and six from 

 the confines of Monmouthshire. As an 



observer of birds of the Ross district, I define 

 it as a radius of twelve miles around Ross. 

 My principal observations fall within half 

 this distance, but as I am writing on the Birds 

 of the Wye Valley, a few instances from 

 bevond my district mav find a place in these 

 contributions. In the present paper I pro- 

 pose confining mv remarks to some of the 

 birds of prey. 



In October, 1870, a young farmer at 

 Fownhope (six miles distant) out with his 

 gun, ob.served a large bird circling above over 

 the ri\er. His fingers itched to find out what 

 bird it was, so he brought it down, and pro- 

 nounced it to be an eagle of some kind. Not 

 being interested in birds, he exchanged it for 

 a clog, to a gentleman who had it set up. It 

 proved to be a beautiful male Osprey. A 

 female was found by the London taxidermist, 

 and the two cased up together. In a few 

 years it pas.sed into my possession, and is 

 much admired. 



About three vears ago a Spotted Eagle was 

 found alive, but with a broken wing, in 

 Brinsop Wood, near Hereford. No one 

 appears to know who shot it. The poor 

 thing was put out of its pain, and the gentle- 

 man on wliose estate it occurred had it set up, 

 and has lent it to the South Kensington 

 Mu.seum. 1 trust it mav finallv be housed in 

 the Hereford Museum. 



The appearance of Aqitihi fiiscu was an 

 unlooked for e\"ent. It is just possible that 

 the thunder of War on the Continent may 

 have accountetl for its visiting our inliospit- 

 able countr\-. 



An old s[3ortsman reported to me a slate- 

 coloured, long-legged hawk he had shot near 

 the Wye in 1873. The taxidermist sent 

 it home labelled " Hen-LIarrier {Circus 

 cyauciis), Male." Tiic last of its race in our 

 localitv, I fear. 



