A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



145. Smew. Mergus albellui, Linn. 



A rare winter visitor, several times seen, 

 but only once shot as yet in our county. 



146. Wood-Pigeon or Ring-Dove. Columba 



palumbui, Linn. 

 A common resident, very numerous in 

 winter owing to immigration from abroad. 

 Breeds in April, and rears three or four broods 

 in the season. 



147. Stock-Dove. Columba cenas, Linn. 

 This bird, which is commonly but incor- 

 rectly spoken of as the ' rock-dove,' is a 

 common summer resident, less common in 

 winter. Builds in holes in trees or buildings, 

 ivy, or rabbit-burrows, raising two or three 

 broods in the season. I have had young 

 stock-doves hatched in my garden at Thorn- 

 haugh on April ist, and have known them 

 leave the nest as late as November 29th 

 (1898). 



148. Turtle-Dove. Turtur communis, Selby. 

 A common summer visitor, reaching us 



about May-day, breeding in hawthorn and 

 similar bushes, and leaving about the middle 

 of September. Very tiresome to crops of the 

 leguminous kind, especially tares. 



149. Pallas's Sand-Grouse. Syrrhaptes para- 



doxui (Pallas). 

 A north-eastern Asiatic wanderer, occa- 

 sionally visiting Britain in numbers, as in 

 1863 and 1888. A good many were shot in 

 Northants in the latter year, after which (in 

 spite of the Act of Parliament hastily passed 

 to induce them to stay) they all ungratefully 

 vanished again. 



150. Black Grouse. Tetrao tetrlx, Linn. 



A very rare occasional visitor, possibly from 

 Sandringham, possibly from Sherwood Forest. 

 Lord Lilford records an occurrence at Cran- 

 ford in 1849. Another was shot near Oak- 

 ham, outside our boundaries, in 1896 {North- 

 ants Nat. Hist. Soc. Journ., ix. 166). Last 

 year I saw one (a female, like the two already 

 mentioned), on the rough ground behind Wal- 

 cot, on my way home from Barnack. It lit on 

 a stone wall, where I was able to stalk it to 

 within 100 yards, and it is a species with 

 which I am familiar from boyhood. 



151. Red Grouse. Lagopus scoticus (Latham). 

 A cock grouse was shot in November, 



1892, near Warkworth (Northamptonshire). 

 I have long been familiar with the regular 

 migrations of the grouse in the north of 

 England, and the distances to which severe 

 weather will impel them, but this occurrence 

 is another thing altogether ; it is permissible, 



however, to mention that freshly-caught 

 grouse (netted, by persons whom I must not 

 call poachers, on the edges of other peoples' 

 moors) are a regular article of trade nowadays. 



152. Pheasant. Phasianus co/chicus, Linn. 

 This species has now been so universally 



crossed with the Chinese P. torquatus and the 

 Japanese P. versicolor^ that it is in fact a 

 mongrel. 



153. Partridge. Perdix cinerea, LMh:\.m. 



A common resident, breeding on the ground, 

 laying about the end of April, and only rais- 

 ing one brood. 



154. Red-legged or French Partridge. Cac- 



cahis rufa (Linn.). 

 Introduced in Suffolk about 1770, the 

 Frenchman made its appearance in Northants 

 shortly after the year 1840. It is now plenti- 

 ful, breeding usually on the ground, and lay- 

 ing in the end of April. It is quite erroneous 

 to suppose that this bird drives away the 

 common partridge ; I have known a nest of 

 either species within a foot of one another, 

 and the two hens sat harmoniously, and both 

 hatched out. 



155. Quail. Coturnix communis, ^onn2^.Qtxt. 

 An irregular summer visitor, perhaps not 



so common as it used to be — which is not 

 surprising, considering what an enormous 

 number of quails are netted abroad on the 

 spring migration. Lord Lilford mentions a 

 good many occurrences (i. 311), and since the 

 publication of his work I saw a quail near 

 here (Thornhaugh) dusting itself by the road- 

 side on July 14th, 1896, and nearly a month 

 later some of its eggs were brought to me 

 which had been mowed out in a clover field. 



156. Land-Rail or Corn-Crake. Crex pra- 



tcnsis, Bechstein. 

 A common summer visitor. 



157. Spotted Crake. Porzana maruetta 



(Leach). 

 Used to breed (like the last species) in some 

 abundance at VVhittlesea Mere, before its 

 drainage ; still occurs not uncommonly, and 

 chiefly in autumn. It frequents reed-beds 

 with us, but is also a persistent skulker. I 

 have two county examples. 



158. Water-Rail. Ra/lus aguaticus, L>\nn. 



A not uncommon resident, though seldom 

 seen from its skulking habits. No doubt 

 breeds in small numbers with us, though no 

 eggs are extant ; an undoubtedly local egg of 

 this species in the Peterboro' Museum is not 

 unlikely to have been taken in the county. 

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