164 NOTES ON NORTHAMPTONSHIRE BIRDS. 



The two Merlins (F. azsalon) are immature, male and female, both shot 

 near Lilford, Oundle. Vide op. supra cit., No 2, pp. 28, 29. 



Amongst the eight specimens of Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus) will 

 be found an adult male, in a state of plumage comparatively seldom met 

 with in Great Britain. Vide op. supra cit., pp. 31, 32. 



A pair of Red-backed Shrikes (Lanius collurio) I only mention for the 

 reason that this species, which I think I may say was almost unknown in 

 our district thirty years ago, is now a frequent and well-known summer 

 visitor ; the same remark applies in a respectively greater or less degree 

 to the Hawfinch, (Coccothraustes vulgaris,) the Nightjar, (Caprimulgus 

 Europaius,) and the Turtle Dove, (Columba turtur.) 



The Dipper, or Water Ousel, (Cinclus aquaticus.) A specimen of this 

 bird (which I believe to be that in this collection) was shot at 

 Blatherwycke, near King's Cliff, in April. 1868, and is, as far as I am at 

 present informed, the only specimen which has been obtained in our 

 county. 



The Greater Spotted Woodpecker, (Picus major,) of which this collec- 

 tion contains a pair, shot near Lilford, is not rare with us, but is much 

 less common than the Little Woodpecker, (Picus minor,) which is not 

 therein represented. 



The Reeves Pheasant, (Phasianus Beevesii,) of which the collection 

 contains three pure specimens, two males and one female, besides a very 

 fine male hybrid between this species and* the more or less pure common 

 Pheasant, (Ph. colchicus,) is an Asiatic species from the mountains of 

 Northern China, which I have introduced with some success into our 

 coverts as a game bird, the finest male of the two pure birds sent, and 

 the hybrid were both shot in a wild state, the latter was wild bred, and 

 had not, I believe, been observed or distinguished before it rose to the 

 gun in one of my woods in December, 1879. I can strongly recommend 

 Reeves Pheasant to game preservers who have large ranges of woodland, 

 as it is a very hardy bird, easy to rear, of a very wild nature, and most 

 excellent for the table. 



The Green Sandpiper, (Totanus ochropus.) This bird is by no means 

 uncommon with us, and I only mention it because scarcely a summer 

 passes that I do not receive several specimens from neighbours who are 

 puzzled as to what species the bird belongs, and sometimes insist that it 

 is a solitary Snipe, (Scolopax major,) which is, as far as my experience goes, 

 exceedingly rare in our district. The Green Sandpiper generally appears 

 with us late in July, or during the first fortnight of August, either singly 

 or in pairs, and frequents the banks of ponds and small streams in pre- 

 ference to those of the river. It may be at once distinguished from any 

 other of our wading birds by its conspicuous white rump, and its loud 

 and peculiar whistle on being disturbed. A few of these birds may be 

 found with us throughout the autumn and winter months, in fact I have 

 notes of their appearance near Lilford in every month of the year, except 

 June, but, as a rule, our summer visitors of this species leave us towards 

 the beginning of October. 



