III.l 



The Residents. 



309 



( Troglodytes Europcem, 



WREN. 

 Cuv.) 



NUTHATCH. (Sitta Europaa, Lin.) 

 KINGFISHER. (Alcedo ispida, Lin.) 

 Not very common, yet it may now and 

 then be seen at Darrat's stream, near 

 Lyndhurst, the brook in the Queen's 

 Bower Wood, and the Osmanby Ford 

 river, near Wootton. 



RINGDOVE. ( Columbapalumbus, Lin.) 

 STOCKDOVE. (Columba anas, Lin.) 

 Numerous, building in the holes of the 

 old beech-trees. 



PHEASANT. (Phasianus Colchicus, 

 Lin.) 



BLACK GROUSE. (Tetrao tetrix, Lin.) 

 Feeds on the young shoots of heather 

 and larch, seeds of grass, blackberries 

 and acorns, and I have seen it repeatedly 

 perching in the hawthorns for the sake 

 of the berries. The " heath poult " of the 

 Forest. 



PARTRIDGE. (Perdix cinerea, Lath.) 



LAPWING. ( FaneZ/wscmtotas, Meyer.) 



HERON. (Ardea cinerea, Lath.) See 



Chapter XXII., pp. 273, 274. I have 



known a pair lay, in one instance, at 



Boldrewood, as late as June 23rd. 



COMMON KEDSHANK. ( Totanus calid- 

 ris, Lin.) This bird is certainly a resi- 

 dent throughout the year. I have 

 repeatedly put it up during the autumn 

 in some of the swamps near Stoney 

 Cross, more especially in the evening, 

 when it will hover round and round, 

 just keeping overhead, not unlike a 

 pewit. Several nests are yearly taken. 

 Last year Mr. Farren found one near 

 Burley, April 4th, with a single egg, 

 and another, May 3rd, containing four, 

 at Bishopsditch. 



WOODCOCK. (Scolopax rusticola, 

 Lin.) Breeds in great numbers in some 

 seasons. 



COMMON SNIPE. (Scolopax galli- 

 nago, Lin.) The greatest numbers 

 occur in December, though many re- 

 main to breed not only in the "bottoms" 

 of the Forest, but the meadows of the 

 Avon. Mr. Rake informs me that a 



Sabine's snipe (Scolopax Sabini, 

 Vigors), which is now generally re- 

 garded as only a melanism of this 

 species, was shot at Picket Post, Jan., 

 1859. Another was shot not far from 

 the borders of the Forest, at Heron 

 Court, 1836. 



WATER RAIL. (Rallus aquations, 

 Lin.) Most common in the winter. 

 Some few, however, breed in the valley of 

 the Osmanby Ford stream, where I have 

 seen a pair or two in the summer time. 

 COOT. (Fulica atra, Lin.) A 

 straggler generally every year remains 

 to breed on the Avon. 



MUTE SWAN. (Cygnus olor, Boie.) 

 Large numbers belonging to Lord Nor- 

 man ton's swannery may be always seen 

 on the Avon, near Fordingbridge and 

 Ibbesley. 



WILD DUCK. (Anas boschas, Lin.) 

 Breeds, like the teal, in most of the 

 bottoms throughout the Forest, as also 

 in the Avon. The fowlers round Ex- 

 bury say that the wigeon, too, stays to 

 nest ; but I do not know of any au- 

 thenticated case. Mr. Rake has ob- 

 served the tufted duck as late in the 

 year as May. 



TEAL. (Anas crecca, Lin.) 

 LITTLE GREBE. (Podiceps minor, 

 Lath.) Known in the Forest as the 

 di-dapper. A few breed in the Boldre 

 Water, and, perhaps, even in the Osman- 

 by Ford stream. Mr. Rake tells me 

 that it breeds plentifully in the Avon, 

 between Fordingbridge and Downton. 



GUILLEMOT. (Uria troile, Lath.) 

 Locally known as the " spratter." 

 RAZORBILL. (Alca torda, Lin.) 

 CORMORANT. ( Carbo cormoranus, 

 Meyer.) Locally known as the "Isle 

 of Wight parson." 



SHAG. (Carbo cristatus, Tern.) 



HERRING GULL. (Larus argentatus, 



Briin.) It is to be seen at all seasons 



with the four birds above mentioned, 



Breeding like them in the Freshwater 



lifts of the Isle of Wight. The shag 



and the cormorant were the commonest 



