A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



111. Osprey. Pandion haliattus {h'mn.). 



A rare occasional visitor, in autumn chiefly. 

 Feeds entirely on fish. Three or four have 

 been shot in Northants, and more seen {Li/- 

 ford, i. 7-9). 



112. Cormorant. Phalacrocorax carho{\J\r\n!). 



An occasional visitor, usually in winter, 

 much rarer than the following species, and 

 like it only found near water as a rule. Seven 

 specimens have been obtained in our county 

 [Lilford). I have seen one or two more. 



113. Shag or Green Cormorant. Phalacro- 



corax gracului (Linn.). 



Commoner than the last, but appearing 

 under similar conditions. 



1 1 4. Gannet or Solan Goose. Sula hassana 



(Linn.). 

 A rare occasional visitor after storms at sea, 

 and usually in winter. Several occurrences 

 noted in Lilford (ii. 217-223). 



115. Heron. Ardea cinerea, Linn. 



Common resident, there being two con- 

 siderable heronries at Althorp and Milton, 

 whence the county is supplied. A harmless 

 and picturesque bird, which should never be 

 interfered with, except perhaps on trout 

 streams. 



116. Night-Heron. Nycticorax griseus (L'mn.). 



A rare occasional visitor, found by water. 

 Lord Lilford shot the only specimen obtained 

 hitherto in our county, and in his book, so 

 often referred to by me, takes blame to him- 

 self for killing so rare a bird. But his Lord- 

 ship was then making a collection of birds 

 obtained in the county for the public benefit, 

 and was anxious to add to it an example of a 

 bird unrepresented in the collection, and un- 

 verified as occurring in the county. He pro- 

 tected carefully the next individual he met 

 with. 



117. Little Bittern. Ardetta minuta {Lmn.). 



Now a rare occasional visitor to Britain, 

 but there is little doubt that it used to breed 

 in the broads district. The only record for 

 Northamptonshire is one by Baker (1830), 

 admitted by Lord Lilford. 



1 1 8. Bittern. Botaurus stellarls (Linn.). 



Once common in Northants, as it bred in 

 Whittlesea Mere, or at all events was common 

 there. Now an uncommon occasional visitor, 

 usually butchered when met with. Many 

 examples have been obtained, as the bird 

 usually lies close. 



119. White Stork. Ciconia alba, 'Bcchsttm. 



A rare occasional visitor. A small flock 

 was seen near Courtcenhall, apparently in the 

 summer of 1875, by Sir Herewald Wake and 

 Mr. W. Tomalin. 



120. Grey Lag-Goose. Anser cinereus, Meyer. 



Lord Lilford (ii. 140, 141) thinks that this 

 species has occurred in Northants, as no doubt 

 it has in early days when it used to breed in 

 the fens. No specimen is on hand to authen- 

 ticate it. 



121. White-fronted Goose. Anser alhifrons 



(Scopoli). 



The white ring round the beak and the 

 conspicuous black blotches on the breast {N.B. 

 — The last and following species have both 

 these marks at times, but much less developed) 

 make records of this bird more frequent with 

 us, though I have known pink-footed geese that 

 have had these marks called ' white-fronted.' 

 Lord Lilford records seven occurrences. 



122. Bean-Goose. Anser segetum (Gmelin). 



A scarce autumn and winter visitor, of 

 irregular appearance, being very often im- 

 perfectly distinguished from the next species. 

 Used to visit Northants in much greater num- 

 bers than it does now, but the multiplication 

 of guns and gunners in recent years is enough 

 to account for this. Several specimens have 

 been obtained by Lord Lilford, and a lot of 

 nine that I examined at close range near 

 Irchester on December 24th, 1890, were 

 certainly of this species. 



123. Pink-footed Goose. Anser hrachyrhyn- 



chus, Baillon. 



Probably this species is much the com- 

 monest in Britain, but the geese are so im- 

 perfectly distinguished, as a rule, that it is 

 difficult to sift evidence. This bird has been 

 satisfactorily identified by Lord Lilford on 

 two occasions. I personally have had no 

 chance of handling wild geese shot in the 

 county. 



124. Barnacle-Goose. Bernicia kucopsis {Bech- 



stein). 



Mr. George Hunt, whom I knew as a 

 careful and accurate observer, once saw six of 

 these birds near Achurch, but it is not on 

 record as having been shot with us. 



125. Brent Goose. Bcrnkla brenta (Pallas). 



One doubtful record in Lilford (ii. 149) of 

 its occurrence at Biggin. 



122 



