BIRDS 



leaving 162 non-breeding species, for the most part winter immigrants 

 or casual visitors. 



There are also 22 other birds v^^hich, although mentioned in the 

 list, are not included in the number of recognized species, for the reasons 

 either that their specific value is not universally acknowledged, or their 

 claims to have occurred in this county are in some way not satis- 

 factorily established, viz. : — 



Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail 



Pallas's Great Grey Shrike 



Holboell's Redpoll 



Russian Bullfinch (P. major) 



Red-barred Crossbill 



Eagle-Owl 



Pelican ' 



Great White Heron 



Little Egret 



BufF-backed Heron 



Canada Goose 



Egyptian Goose 

 Harlequin-Duck 

 Hooded Merganser 

 Rock-Dove 

 Virginian Colin 

 Green-backed Gallinule 

 Cream-coloured Courser 

 Eastern Golden Plover 

 Sabine's Snipe 

 Wilson's Petrel 



Ringed Guillemot 



But for the absence of Mr. J. H. Gurney from England, I should 

 have had the advantage of being associated with him in the preparation 

 of the list which follows ; but he has generously allowed me to make 

 use of the information contained in a previous joint list of the same 

 kind, and has read the proofs before they were finally settled. 



1. Missel-Thrush. Turdus viscivorus, Linn. 

 A common resident. 



2. Song-Thrush. Turdus musicus, Linn. 

 Common, and generally distributed in the 



summer months ; like many others of our sum- 

 mer residents, it is a partial migrant, the local 

 race passing south, and their places being taken 

 by immigrants, which sometimes are very nu- 

 merous. 



Turdus iliacus, ' 



Redwing. 

 Linn. 



Fieldfare. Turdus pilaris, 

 Linn. 



White's Thrush. Turdus varius, Pallas. 

 Is a rare accidental visitor, it has only 



Common 



winter 



immigrants. 



occurred once, on October loth, 1871, at 

 Hickling. 



6. Blackbird. Turdus merula, Linn. 



The same remarks apply to this species as 

 to the thrush. 



7. Ring-Ousel. Turdus torquatus, Linn. 



The ring-ousel is rather an uncommon 

 spring and autumn visitor ; it is suspected to 

 have nested in Norfolk on a few occasions. 



8. Wheatear. Saxicola cen- 



anthe (Linn.). 



9. Whinchat. Pratincola 



rubetra (Linn.). 



Regular sum- 

 mer migrants, 

 breeding in 

 Norfolk. 



* There is good reason to believe that a species of pelican in times past was an inhabitant of the 

 fens of East Anglia. Bones of a bird of this genus, believed from their large size to belong to P.crispus, 

 a native at present of southern Europe, have on two occasions been found in the Cambridgeshire fens, 

 and once in Feltwell Fen, Norfolk, part of the same ' level.' In one of the Cambridgeshire instances 

 the bones were those of so young an individual as to indicate that the species was probably a native of 

 the locality and not a mere casual visitor to this and other suitable localities in England. This assump- 

 tion is rendered the more probable from the discovery of the bones of pelicans, apparently of the same 

 species, in the remains of an ancient lake dwelling near Glastonbury, Somersetshire (73//, 1899, P- 353)- 

 Sir Thomas Browne makes allusion to a pelican shot on Horsey Broad on May 22nd, 1663 ; but with 

 his usual cautiousness adds that it may have escaped from St. James's, as he heard that one of the king's 

 pelicans was lost about the same time. However that might have been there is no doubt that the 

 broads at that time were extensive enough to attract any rare water-bird that chanced to find its way to 

 our coast, and the month of May is just that in which this southern species would be likely to occur. 



227 



