xiv INTRODUCTION. 



Museum collection. The Hen Harrier has nested 

 here within the last three years. Unhappily it was 

 shot after laying two eggs in a loosely-constructed 

 nest. I saw the male several times afterwards ; its 

 shorter wings and more compact form distinguished 

 it from the Montagu's Harrier, which is a more fre- 

 quent visitor in these parts. The Stone Curlew 

 breeds upon our upland fallows, and remains with 

 us until the late autumn. The eggs of the Wood- 

 cock are very rarely found in Dorsetshire (I know 

 only of one instance). The Dipper frequents the 

 western side of the county, where it breeds ; two 

 broods have been known to have been reared in one 

 year by the same parents. The Dartford Warbler, 

 which was a constant resident in our heath districts 

 until the rigorous winter of 1881 and several succeed- 

 ing ones, has now disappeared. It is to be hoped 

 there may be a few survivals, and that the heathlands 

 of the county may be again graced by this lively 

 little bird. The Peregrine holds its own in Purbeck, 

 mainly owing to the protection it receives from the 

 proprietors of the sea-cliffs, which are its principal 

 breeding-places. The Chough has nearly succumbed 

 to the senseless greed of egg-collectors, and its 

 numbers are now so reduced that for some time past 

 it has reached what I have termed zero-point. It is 

 to be regretted that this harmless and graceful bird 

 is not so abundant with us as it is in the Pyrenees, 

 where, at Cauterets (in the spring of 1880), I fell 

 in with two flocks, each numbering more than a 

 hundred birds. 



