as BIRDS OF CHESHIRE. 
notes of their occurrence have appeared in print. One 
hundred and ten species breed, or bred until recent 
years, within the county boundaries. This number 
includes the Nightingale, for, although a nest has 
never actually been found, there can be no doubt that 
the birds have bred on some, at any rate, of the few 
occasions when their presence has been observed. The 
Bittern used to nest regularly in the early part of the 
century, and we are informed that the Hobby has bred 
in the county within recent years. The Marsh and 
Hen Harriers have probably only been exterminated 
as breeding species during this century, whilst the 
Oyster-catcher, Lesser Tern, and Common Tern may 
have nested regularly on the coast until comparatively 
recent years. No definite account of their nests has 
been preserved, however, and we have not felt justified 
in including any of these species among the breeders. 
The Oyster-catcher, Cormorant, Guillemot, Razorbill, 
Herring Gull, and Kittiwake rear their broods annually 
on the neighbouring Welsh coast, and are to be seen 
on Cheshire waters throughout the year, thus occupy- 
ing the anomalous position of residents which do not 
nest in the county. 
Compared with many other English counties, Cheshire 
has a remarkably poor avifauna. The number of resi- 
dent species would, no doubt, be larger were there 
a rocky coastline, but it is among the casual visi- 
tors rather than the residents that the deficiency is 
apparent. The eastern counties of England are those 
chiefly affected by the great waves of migratory 
birds which reach this country from the Eurasiatic 
continent, and no county in the west is so rich in 
regular and casual migrants as are those on our eastern 
seaboard. Cheshire, even for a western county, is 
