837 



® right al ^rtklcs. 



RARE BIRDS OCCURRING NEAR RICHMOND, YORKSHIRE. 



By James Aspdin. 



OsPREY (Falco Tialice'etus). A specimen of this bird, which is of rare 

 occurrence in this neighbourhood, was shot by William Prince, game- 

 keeper to M. Blunt, Esq., whilst it was fishing in the river Swale, about 

 two miles below Richmond, on the 6th of July, 1862. It was a very fine 

 adult male specimen weighing 2fbs. 12oz., measuring twenty-two inches 

 in length, and five feet four inches in expanse of wing. 



Buzzard (Falco buteoj. A few weeks ago my friend Mr. Harker 

 received from a person at Hawes a very old male s]}ecimen of this bird, 

 which was killed by him at Cotter Top, a mountainous moorland near 

 that town, on the 18th of August last. It had been preserved by the 

 party who sent it, who professes bird-stuffing, but was set up in such a 

 ridiculous position that it will be necessary to relax and set it up again 

 to be decent. 



Great Gray Shrike (Lanius excubitor). The visits of this bird to 

 this neighbourhood are very rare, but a fine specimen was shot at Sowerby, 

 near Thirsk, on the 22nd of February, 1858. 



Bohemian Waxwing ( Bomhrjcilla garrula). A fine specimen of this 

 beautiful bird was shot on the " Castle Bank," a steep hill sloping down 

 to the river Swale, and close to the town, in November, 1859, by a person 

 named King. 



Crossbill {Loxia ciirvirostra). Five specimens of this bird were shot 

 at Park Hall, near Ruth, on the 5th of March, 1858, by Mr. Martin of 

 that place. 



Hoopoe (Upupa ejjops). In October, 1861, a fine specimen of this 

 bird was shot by Mr. Topham's keeper, on Middleham Moor. 



Bittern (Ardea stellaris). The Bittern is a bird that is very rarely 

 seen or heard in this part of the country, but it appears from a paragraph 

 in the " Richmond and Ripon Chronicle," of February 15th, 1862, that a 

 fine specimen was shot a few days before on the banks of the beautiful 

 and picturesque Lake Summerwater, near Hawes, by Mr. Peter Beresford. 

 The bird fell into the hands of Mr. Edward Chapman, of Caperby, a 

 clever taxidermist, and by him was set up. 



No, 22, March 15. Z 



