m.l 



The Summer Visitors. 



WILLOW WREN. {Sylvia trochilus, 

 Lath.) Many are to be seen about the 

 middle and end of April in the young 

 enclosures, where I have frequently 

 caught the bird on its nest. 



WOOD WEEN. {Sylvia sibilatrix, 

 Bechst.) Its nests and eggs are gene- 

 rally found about the same time as the 

 willow wren's. 



WHITETHKOAT. {Sylvia cinerea, 

 Lath.) Common. 



LESSER WHITETHROAT. {Sylvia 

 curruca, Lath.) Not abundant. 



WHISTCHAT. {Sylvia rubetra, Lath.) 

 Known throughout the Forest as the 

 " Furze Hacker." 



TREE PIPIT. {Anthus arboreus, 

 Bechst.) Common. 



REED WREN. {Sylvia arundinacea, 

 Lath.) The five foregoing species come 

 much about the same time, namely, the 

 end of April, but the reed wren is ex- 

 cessively scarce in the Forest, and I 

 have only once or twice heard its note 

 in the Beaulieu river. Mr. Hart assures 

 me that it builds on the banks of the 

 Avon, but its nest has yet to be found. 



LANDRAIL. {Gallinula crex, Lath.) 

 About the end of April or beginning of 

 May. A good many yearly build round 

 Milton, and the south parts of the 

 Forest, and even in the interior, as at 

 Fritham and Alum Green. 



COMMON SANDPIPER. ( Tetanus ky- 

 poleucos, Tern.) A pair now and then 



remain to breed at Whitten pond, near 

 Burley, and also at Ocknell. 



TURTLE DOVE. {Columba turtur, 

 Lin.) Not uncommon. Makes a slight 

 framework of heather for a nest, which 

 it places in a furze bush or low holly. 

 Is extremely shy, and easily forsakes 

 its eggs. 



SWIFT. {Cypselus apus, Illig.) 



NIGHTJAR. {Caprimulgus Europceus, 

 Lin.) Known throughout the Forest 

 as the "Night Hawk," "Night Crow," 

 "Ground Hawk," from its habits, and 

 manner of flying. I have received its 

 eggs at all dates, from the middle of 

 May to the end of July. 



SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. {Muscicapa 

 grisola, Lin.) Arrives about the same 

 tune as the three preceding, namely, 

 the beginning of May. 



EEDBACKED SHRIKE. {Laniuscollurio, 

 Lin.) 



HOBBY. {Falco subbuteo, Lath.) 

 Generally breeds from the beginning to 

 the end of June. Mr. Farren, how- 

 ever, in 1861, found a nest containing 

 three eggs so early as May 28th. See 

 Chapter XXII. p. 261. 



HONEY BUZZARD. {Falco apivorus, 

 Lin.) Never arrives before the end of 

 May. See Chapter xxii. pp. 262-265. 



PUFFIN. {Mormon fratercula, Tern ) 

 Comes to the Barton cliffs from the Isle 

 of Wight, where it breeds. 



Here, as before, the list clearly indicates the nature of the country. 

 The wheatear proclaims the down-like spaces on the tops of the hills, 

 whilst the hobby and the honey-buzzard tell of the vast extent of woods. 

 In the following division the winter birds speak, instead, of the morasses 

 and bogs, and the river estuaries and mudbanks, which surround the 

 Forest district. 



SHORTEAREDOWL. {Strix brttchyotus, 

 Gmel.) Not uncommon. Mr. Cooper, 

 the Forest Keeper to whom I have before 

 referred, tells me that in winter and late 

 in the autumn for twenty years past he has 



invariably met specimens in heathy and 

 marshy spots at Harvcstslade between 

 Burley and Boldrewood. A specimen 

 \vas killed in November, 1860, in Dibden 

 Bottom, by L. H. Cumberbatch, Esq. 

 311 



