66 BRITISH BIRDS. 



" Otis Tarda & Bistarda the 



Bustard Haec Avis in Mediterraneis (inland) Angliae 

 partibus freqiiens est," a not particularly accurate account 

 of the distribution of this interesting bird. 



" Ruff a the Spanish Partridge mth bill 



and legs red." Charleton writes that this bird (the Red- 

 legged Partridge) was common in the island of Guarnsey 

 (Guernsey) (c/. Yarrell, British Birds, Vol. III., p. 117). 



Under Passeres he notes : " Montanus of all our sparrows 

 the most elegant ; the Mountain sparrow with a reddish 

 Crown, a black chin, and white descending from the 

 head to the lower jaw, whence it is called amongst us 

 the WT)ite-cap " an excellent account of the Tree-Sparrow, 

 though the name " White-cap " seems hardly applicable. 



Then follow " Montifringilla the Bramble, Bramling 

 or Brier-finch," so called, he informs us, from frequenting 

 and eating the fruit of brambles (ruhis). It may be 

 remarked that no satisfactory derivation of the name 

 " Brambling " has yet been suggested. 



" Merops the Bee-eater," which he describes as a very 

 rare visitor to England. 



" Parus Cristatus, the crested or juniper titmouse 

 (because it frequents juniper bushes)." It will be noticed 

 that Charleton does not clearly say the Crested Tit was 

 a British bird, though he implies so by giving the English 

 name and designation. Thomas Muffet (1553-1604) in 

 his " Health's Improvement," published in 1655, but 

 written much earlier, states definitely that the Crested 

 Tit was found in England, although he gives no authority 

 for such a statement, and Charleton, to whom Muffet's 

 work was well-known, may merely have copied that writer. 



''(Enanthe the Wheat Ear, White-tail, 



Horse-match " : Charleton notes it as a summer visitor, 

 its frequency in Sussex and its fatness in the month Of 

 June, and tells us that in Warwickshire it was known 

 as the Fallow-smiter (c/. Swainson, p. 9). 



" Upupa an Hoopoop — comes very rarely 



into England." Charleton then adds the curious and 



