246 THE BIRDS OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 



are divided into five orders, viz. : — 1st, Raptores or Prey-catchers, such 

 as the Hawks and Owls ; 2nd, Insessores or Perchers, as Finches and 

 Sparrows ; 3rd, Rasores or Scratchers, such as pigeons, game birds, and 

 our domestic fowls ; 4th, Grallatores or Waders, as the Heron and 

 Plover ; 5th, Natatores or Swimmers, as the Ducks and Gulls. These 

 are again divided and sub-divided into groups and families. 



First, then, let us take Raptores, at the head of which is the Eagle, 

 the king of birds. As far as I have been able to ascertain, this grand 

 bird has never visited Gloucestershire ; but of his relatives we can 

 number no less than eight Falcons, besides Owls. Chief of these is the 

 Osprey. This bird was shot on October 21st of last year, (1878,) near 

 Wimberley Mills, at the Bourne. It spent some time in the valleys, 

 generally keeping near the head of the stream, at a pond called " Baker's 

 Pond." Its range was very great, but, after being shot at by every 

 gunster in Chalford, it finally succumbed under a broken wing to the 

 prowess of a man at the Brimscombe Gas Works, and soon afterwards 

 came into my hands. It is a fine male specimen, measuring 5ft. 3in. 

 across the wings, and, had it been a little better stuffed, would have been 

 very valuable. It has a crest, and is the only member of this order that 

 has it. Its claws are very long and sharp, and are well fitted for firmly 

 grasping the slippery bodies of the various fishes on which it feeds. In 

 taking its prey it hovers like the Kestrel, and plunging into the water, 

 often being quite submerged, rises again with the greatest ease, and, if 

 successful, with its prey in its claws. It then flies off to some suitable 

 place, where it is not likely to be disturbed, and there devours it. Some- 

 times it mounts high up in the air to play with its prey as a cat does a 

 mouse. It exclusively feeds on fish, hence one of its names, "Fishing 

 Hawk." There were a pair of them, as usual with hawks, for having 

 once paired, they never separate, and the female has several times been 

 seen. Once it hovered over our own pond at Brimscombe, and actually 

 alighted in the meadow, thence it flew slowly down stream. I hope it 

 will find another mate, and visit Gloucestershire again, when I trust it 

 will be suffered to remain unmolested, for, now-a-days, directly a rare 

 bird is reported, a whole army of gunners do their best to destroy it. 

 I always deprecate such a way of welcoming a stranger, as so many of 

 our beautiful British birds are, I fear, rapidly becoming extinct. 



Of the other members of this order the Peregrine Falcon is, perhaps, 

 the most interesting, as it is the bird used in falconry. A pair of these 

 were seen, and one shot, some time ago, at Frampton Mansel. I believe 

 they were genuine specimens, as they had no bells and bore no trace of 

 any training. The Kite was, at one time, fairly abundant on the hills 

 above Wotton-under-Edge, and used to breed in a wood at the head of 

 the Wotton stream. It is now very rare. The Common Buzzard is 

 sometimes seen, and a most remarkable occurrence of large numbers 

 of this beautiful bird is recorded at Coleford, Dean Forest, by Mr. 

 Morris, in his " History of British Birds." A hen Harrier was shot at 

 Nymphsfield last year. Hobbies I have twice observed, while the 

 Kestrel and Sparrow Hawk are as common here as elsewhere, the former 

 distinguished by the manner it has of hovering over its prey or while 



