190 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds 



more easily remain unobserved. I have had several instances of the 

 occurrence of this bird in our more immediate neighbourhood lately 

 brought before my notice. King^ the bird-stuffer at Warminster 

 (and a better is not to be found anywhere for giving- the true 

 character and spirit of a bird), tells me that they are not altogether 

 uncommon in that district. He has had one or two brought to him 

 regularly during the last few years, and sometimes he has had four 

 at a time. There is an old bird-catcher in my own parish, of the 

 name of Champion, who is well versed in all the smaller birds of 

 the neighbourhood (having plied his trade regularly on our downs 

 for forty years, or more, long before the " Bird Act " came into 

 operation), and he tells me that he knows the bird well, and has 

 several times trapped it on the downs in the neighbourhood of 

 Martin. In 1860 Mr. Norwood, of Fisherton, obtained a pair from 

 the Salisbury district. Another was shot at Pert wood, near Mere, 

 in May, 1873. One was seen by J. A. T. Powell, Esq., of Hurdcott 

 House, as he informs me, as he was returning from Church one 

 Sunday morning during the spring of 1877 — a cock bird in fine 

 plumage. Another male bird I also procured for my own collection, 

 which was killed about the same time near Basingstoke. And 

 during this autumn I myself saw a bird on the roadside between 

 Twyford and Wokingham, when driving with a friend, which made 

 me exclaim, " Look, look, there^s a Pied Fly-catcher," and though I 

 could not get a second glimpse of it, I felt I was not mistaken. 

 In other districts besides this, this pretty bird seems to have been 

 noticed more frequently than formerly, and it is only to be hoped 

 that ere long it will become not so uncommon as to invite that in- 

 cessant persecution, which, in our over-crowded country, invariably 

 marks the appearance of any rare bird amongst us. 



MERULIDiE. 



Turdus Viscivorus. " The Missel Thrush.-" We come now to 

 the Thrush Tribe, birds well known to all, and general favourites. 

 The Missel Thrush, or Storm Cock, is one of the boldest of birds, 

 fearing neither Hawk nor Crow, and driving all intruders resolutely 

 from its nest. A very amusing anecdote was related to me the other 



