III. 



The Rarer Visitors and Stragglers. 



BOHEMIAN WAXWING. (Bombycilla 

 garrula, Flem.) Mr. Hart tells me that 

 a specimen was shot about twelve years 

 ago at Milton, on the south border of 

 the Forest. 



GRAYHEADED WAGTAIL. (Motacilla 

 neglecta, Gould. ) Very rare ; but has, 

 on Mr. Hart's authority, been killed. 



SHORT-TOED LARK. (Alauda brachy- 

 dactyla, Leisl.) A specimen, caught 

 not far from the Forest boundary, is 

 now in the Eev. J. Pemberton Bartlett's 

 aviary. See The Zoologist, March, 

 1862, p. 7930. 



SNOW BUNTING. (Emberiza nivalis, 

 Lin.) A few are occasionally seen 

 during hard winters. 



BRAMBLING . (Fringilla montifringilla, 

 Lin.) Occurs like the former bird only 

 during severe frosts. Mr. Rake informs 

 me that a pair were killed near Fording- 

 bridge, in February, 1853. 



TREE SPARROW. (Fringilla montana, 

 Lin.) Rare. 



MEALY REDPOLE. (Fringilla borealis, 

 Tern.) Sometimes caught by the bird- j 

 catchers. 



PARROT CROSSBILL. (Loxia pityop- '. 

 sittacus, Bechst.) Mr. Rake infonns me 

 that one was killed at Breamore, Nov. 

 28th, 1855, out of a flock of a dozen, 

 and that a few days afterwards several 

 more were killed. 



ROSE-COLOURED PASTOR. (Pastor 

 roseus, Tern.) A fine male was shot 

 some twenty years ago, by Mr. Hart's 

 brother, at Purewell. 



CHOUGH. (Pyrrhocorax gracuhts, 

 Tem.J Becoming every year more 

 scarce. See Chapter XXII., pp. 274, 

 275. 



GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER. (Picus 

 martius, Lin.) On its breeding habits 

 in Sweden, sec Mr. Simpson's account 

 in the Ibis, vol. i., p. 264, which agrees 

 about the bird not making a fresh hole, 

 as described at pp. 272, 273. 



HOOPOE. ( Upupa epops, ~Lin.) See 

 Chapter XXII , p. 274. 



WHITE-BELLIED SWIFT. (Cypselus 



S S 



alpinus, Tern.) Mr. Hart infonns me 

 that a specimen was killed about ten 

 years ago over Christchurch harbour. 



ROCK DOVE. (Columba livia, Briss.^ 



RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. (Perdix 

 rubra, Briss) Introduced many years 

 ago by the late Mr. Baring, of Somerley ; 

 but very few, if any, are left. 



QUAIL. (Perdix coturnix, Lath.) 

 Sometimes to be seen amongst the 

 covies of partridges in the fields adjoin- 

 ing the Forest. 



GREAT BUSTARD. (Otis tarda, 

 Lin.J The last bustard, as mentioned 

 in Chapter II., p. 14, footnote, was seen 

 about twenty- five years ago by one of 

 the Forest keepers, near Eyeworth Wood; 

 but though on horseback, he could not 

 overtake the bird, which ran across 

 Butt's Plain, aiding itself by flapping its 

 wings. 



LITTLE BUSTARD. (Otis tetrax 

 Lin.) A female was shot some years 

 ago near Heron Court ; and is in Lord 

 Malmesbury's collection. See Ey ton's 

 Rarer British Birds, p. 99. 



KILDEER PLOVER. (Charadrius 

 vociferus, Lin.) This rare straggler, 

 the only one ever known to have been seen 

 in England, was shot, April, 1859, in a 

 potato field close to Knapp Mill, near 

 Christchurch, by a man of the name of 

 Dowding, who was attracted to it by its 

 peculiar flight, such as is described by 

 Audubon, as also by its monotonous 

 cry, fiom which its name is taken. The 

 bird was brought in the flesh to Mr. 

 Hart, and is now in the collection of 

 J. Tanner, Esq. The vignette at p. 318 

 well shows its difference from the com- 

 mon ring dotterel. 



LITTLE RINGED PLOVER. (Chara- 

 drius minor, Meyer.) Very rare. Mr. 

 Hart has only had one specimen, brought 

 to him many years ago. 



GREY PLOVER. (Vanellus melano- 

 gaster, Bechst.) Not uncommon during 

 severe winters in the harbours along the 

 coast. 



TURNSTONE. (Strepsilas interpres, 



31.7 



