A HISTORY OF NORFOLK 



among those which visit us in autumn. A 

 good example of this race, killed near Nor- 

 wich in December, 1864, is in the Castle 

 Museum. 



1 26. Long-eared Owl. Aiio otus (Linn.). 



A resident in summer ; the bulk of our 

 home birds go south in autumn, when their 

 places are filled by immigrants. 



127. Short-eared Owl. Am accipitrinus 



(Pallas). 

 A nest or two of the short-eared owl is 

 generally found in certain localities in Nor- 

 folk, where it formerly bred freely, but it is 

 now chiefly known as an autumn migrant, 

 sometimes arriving in considerable numbers 

 about the same time as the woodcock, hence 

 it is often called the ' woodcock owl.' 



128. Tawny or Wood-Owl. Syrnium aluco 



(Linn.). 

 Generally distributed in suitable localities, 

 but is less Frequent than formerly. 



129. Tengmalm's Owl. Nyctala tengmalmt 



(Gmelin). 

 Tengmalm's owl has been killed or taken 

 alive three times in Norfolk. 



130. Little Owl. Athene noctua (Scopoli). 

 Specimens have been obtained in Norfolk 



in a few instances previous to the year 1876. 

 These are all presumably genuine occur- 

 rences ; but on the date mentioned six were 

 liberated in the woods at Kimberley, render- 

 ing subsequent examples doubtful. 



131. Snowry Owl. Nyctea scandiaca (Linn.). 

 This fine owl has been met with in nine 



instances in Norfolk, of course always in 

 winter. 



132. Scops-Owl. Scops giu l^zopoW). 



This rare little owl has been recorded nine 

 times, but it is probable the only reliable in- 

 stances are as follows : one at Cromer in 

 November, i86l ; a second at Walsingham 

 in May, 1891 ; and a third near Holt in 

 November, 1892. 



[Eagle-owl. Bubo ignavus, T. Forster. 



A specimen was killed at Somerton in 

 1863 or 1864, but may possibly have been an 

 escape.] 



133. Marsh - Harrier. Circus aruginosus 



(Linn.). 

 Locally, Moor-Buzzard. 

 This is now a rare bird. Its last abiding- 

 place is in the rough herbage surrounding 

 some of the broads, where a pair or two 

 generally make an unsuccessful attempt to 



rear a brood, birds and eggs or young in most 

 cases meeting with an untimely end. It is 

 difficult to imagine how greatly these birds 

 abounded both in the broads and in the fens 

 of west Norfolk at the beginning of the 

 century. Mr. Lubbock, writing in 1845, 

 says that all the wounded birds fell to the 

 share of the moor-buzzard, and calls it ' the 

 genus loci — the sovereign of the place.' In 

 the spring of i8i8 nine were trapped at a 

 single duck's nest. In Feltwell Fen, on the 

 other side of the county, they seem to have 

 been even more numerous ; but in this latter 

 locality buzzards and fen alike are things of 

 the past. 



134. Hen-Harrier. Circus cyaneus (Linn.). 

 This probably never was so numerous as 



the next species ; it certainly is not so now, 

 and those which visit us are mostly migrants. 

 It does not seem so partial to the broads as 

 Montagu's harrier, and perhaps some of the 

 nests attributed to this bird may have be- 

 longed to the latter species. 



135. Montagu's Harrier. Circus cineraceus 



(Montagu). 

 In the palmy days of the harriers all alike 

 were known as buzzards, and this species was 

 not distinguished from the preceding, but it 

 certainly was by far the most numerous. At 

 present scarcely a year passes without one or 

 more nests being found in its old haunts, but 

 it is probable that few birds escape, and still 

 fewer succeed in rearing a brood. 



136. Common Buzzard. Buteo vulgaris. 



Leach. 

 A spring and autumn visitor with us, 

 though perhaps not quite so regular in its 

 appearance of late years as formerly, but like 

 all the birds of prey it is rare in adult plum- 

 age. 



137. Rough-legged Buzzard. Archibuteo la- 



gopus (Gmelin). 

 This buzzard visits us in autumn, some- 

 times in considerable numbers, seldom in 

 adult plumage. 



138. Golden Eagle. Aquila chryscj?tus {hinn.). 

 The golden eagle has never been met with 



alive in this county so far as is known, and 

 our only claim to it as a Norfolk bird rests 

 upon a dead individual found in a marsh at 

 StifiFkey, in November, 1868. 



139. White-tailed Eagle. Haliah'tus albicilla 



(Linn.). 

 This is a rather frequent autumn or winter 

 visitor, but has not hitherto been killed here 

 in adult plumage. 



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