CORVIDM— CROWS. 



133 



been " not uncommon " around Sudbury in 1838. Mr. Buxton says of Epping 

 Forest (47. 84) : 



" This predatory foe to other birds is happily not common hereabouts. There 

 are several about Loughton, and they breed regularly in the Rectory garden. A 

 pair used always to breed at Knighton, but I have not observed them for two or 

 three years." 



The Rev. J. C. Atkinson writes (36. 90) : 



" I used to be assured as a school-boy that there were two sorts or varieties of 

 Magpies, distinguished by the comparative length of their tails and the site of 

 their nests :— the alleged short-tailed one was called the Bush Magpie ; the other 

 ihe Tree Magpie. It is almost idle to say no such variety or distinction really 

 exists." 



Mr. Sackett informs me of one shot near Grays " having a deformed beak, the 

 upper mandible being curved to the right like that of the Crossbill." Round 

 Harwich, it is fairly common and breeds (Kerry). On December 26th, 1875, I saw 

 several at Chignal St. James, and on January 1st following one at Roxwell. About 

 the same time the keeper here trapped another. On June i6th following, I saw 

 another at Broomfield. In 1877, a nest of eggs was hatched in the Boyton Hall 

 Springs. In the Paglesham district, fifty years ago. Dr. Laver says (50. iii. 33) : 



" Magpies' nests might be frequently seen, the highest tree being a favourite 

 position. Sometimes they chose most unlikely spots only a few feet from the 

 ground : at other times they nested in fruit-trees in a garden close to the house. 

 1 am sorry to say this bird is now rarely seen in my district." 



Jackdaw : Corviis monedula. 



An abundant resident, breeding chiefly in holes in large old trees 

 in parks. Pied or albino examples occasionally occur. 



At 3.30 a.m. on July nth, 188 r, I saw a small flock down in the Market 

 Square, Saffron Walden — a very unusual locality for them, surely ! In the sum- 

 mer of 1883, a nest containing two pure white and two normally-coloured young 

 birds was taken near Harlow Mill. The white birds were tamed and kept in the 

 vicinity for some time. Early in January 1879, the keeper at Mark Hall, Latton, 

 shot a pure white specimen which had been seen about the park for some months 

 (JOhelmsford Chronicle, Jan. 16). " T. S. H.," also records that a white specimen 

 was shot in Essex in Oct. 1857 (29. July 3, 1858). 



Carrion Crow : Corvus corone. 



A resident in various parts of the county, though local and no- 

 where abundant. It is rapidly becoming scarcer through persecution. 

 As long ago as 1845, Mr. Clarke 

 noted (24), that they were " not 

 so frequent as they used to 

 be " round Saffron Walden, 

 .though King, in 1838, described 

 it (20) as still "common" around 

 •Sudbury. 



Lieut. Legge, writing from Shoe- 

 bury in 1866, says (34. 600) it " is very 



CARRION' CROW, {IlCad of)., %. 



plentiful here, breeding both in the tall trees in the lowlands and in the extensive 

 woods near Hadleigh. They do not nest as early in the season as they are said 



