46 NEW SPECIES OF BIRDS. 



could not be much indulged in, several points have come to his 

 notice of great local ornithological interest, and of which there 

 seem to have been no former records. To mention two only, 

 the writer found the Marsh Warbler nesting last June in a 

 certain spot in the county where several pairs were present, 

 and he obtained evidence that the species had bred in the 

 county twenty years ago and has seen the eggs which were then 

 taken. He also found last summer the Roseate Tern on the 

 Dorset coast under conditions which pointed to the possibility 

 of its breeding there. If this latter fact could be established 

 without doubt, it would be an event of considerable interest 

 to British ornithologists. Other very interesting points 

 came to the writer's notice which it is, perhaps, not safe to 

 place on record without some further investigation. There is 

 evidently a most interesting field of work open for the enthu- 

 siastic bird observer in Dorset. There are certain districts 

 in the county for example, the Poole and Abbot sbury areas 

 which, though well known to some naturalists, yet provide 

 from time to time great surprises and entirely new records. 

 For instance, the writer has evidence, which appears 

 satisfactory, that the Merlin laid eggs on the Chesil 

 Beach 17 years ago and the Garganey Teal has nested at the 

 Abbotsbury Decoy within recent years, while it seems more 

 than probable that some thirty years ago a pair of Black 

 Terns attempted to breed on some swampy ground in the 

 Abbotsbury Swannery, and the writer has seen an egg taken 

 at the time and attributable to the birds seen in the vicinity, 

 which egg appears quite typical of the species. Though 

 Black Terns have not been known to breed in the British 

 Isles since 1858, there is no inherent impossibility in accepting 

 the above record. 



With regard to the Poole Basin, Mr. W. Parkinson Curtis 

 has sent me some most interesting and unexpected records 

 which he can vouch for on his own authority. He states 

 that without doubt the Greenshank and Red-breasted Mer- 

 ganser have on occasion remained to breed, and he suggests 

 that in these and similar unusual cases, birds " pricked " 



