m. 



The Birds of Double Passage. 



313 



Blackheadkd Gull. (Litrus ridi- 

 bundus, Lin.) 



KiTTiWAKK. {Larus tridactylus, 

 Lath.) 



Common' Gull. {Larus canus, 

 Lin.) 



Lesser Blackbacked Gull. {La- 

 rus /tiscus, Lin.) Used formerly to 

 breed in the Freshwater Cliffs of the 

 Isle of AVight. 



Great Blackbacked Gull. (^Larus 

 marinus, Lin.) 



The difficulty in the foregoing list has been to decide which species 

 to insei-t or omit. Many which I have left out, others, perhaps, 

 would have given, will be found placed amongst my last catalogue of 

 stragglers. But before we take these, let me mention two birds of 

 double passage which visit the Forest. 



Ring-ousel. {Tardus torquatus, 

 Lin.) A few appear in the spring, but 

 the greater -body in the autumn, when 

 they frequent the yews and mountain 

 ashes, being especially fond of the sweet 

 beiTies of the former. They will hide 

 and skulk, much as a blackbird does, in 

 the ftirae and brambles, and old thick 

 hedges on the borders of the Forest, 

 llr. Rake sends me the following inter- 

 esting note : " An intelligent working 



man, somewhat, too, of an ornithologist, 

 told me that a few years since he took 

 its nest with four or five eggs, near 

 Ringwood, having a distinct view of the 

 bird as she left the nest." 



The Dotterel. ( Charadrius mor- 

 inellus, Lin.) Little flocks of them 

 may be seen in the Forest in April, and 

 again in the autumn ; but they stay only 

 for a few days. 



These are the only two birds which I can satisfactorily class as 

 being tnily of double passage. The common sandpiper remains to breed, 

 whilst the grey plover and the whimbrel are killed in the depth of 

 winter. The common redshank, which is generally placed in this 

 division, remains all the year, and the greenshank is seen in the 

 summer, whilst the bar-tailed godwit appears too seldom to admit of 

 being classified in this section. We will therefore go on to the next 

 list, which includes all those birds that caimot be arranged in the fore- 

 going divisions, with the rare stragglers which are driven here by 

 accident, or only appear at uncertain intervals. 



Golden Eagle. (Falco chrysaetos, 

 Lin.) The last seen was killed, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Hart, about twenty years ago, 

 at the mouth of Christchurch harbour. 



Spotted Eagle. (Falco navius, 

 Gmel.) A fine male specimen was shot, 

 Dec. 28th, 1861, by a keeper of Lord 

 Normanton's, in the plantations near 

 Somerley. The bird had been noticed 

 for some days previously hovering over 

 the Forest. Mr. Rake, who saw it in 



the flesh, tells me that the wings 

 measured six feet from tip to tip, and 

 its weight was exactly eight pounds. 



White-tailed Eagle. (Falco albi' 

 cilia, Gmel.) See Chapter XXIL, 

 p. 260. 



OsPRET. (Falco hallaetus, Lin.) 

 Might almost be classed as a legular 

 visitor in the autumn along the coast. 



Goshawk. (Falco palumbarius,lAa.') 

 Sometimes a stray bird is killed. 



J 313 



