ITS BIRDS. 



93 



Swift. Common from May to August. 



Goatsucker or Nightjar. Frequently seen during summer 



in the Forest, where they breed on the ground, laying 



two oval eggs of a marbled gray colour. 

 Woodpigeon. Great numbers breed in the Forest, and 



their exquisite note may be constantly heard. 

 Stockdove. Always come in May and nest. It nests in 



holes in trees. 

 Turtledove. A constant summer visitor. I have seen flocks 



of them about Walthamstow in late summer. Its plain- 



r 



WOODPIGEONS. 



five note may be frequently heard in Theydon Thickets 

 at the time of incubation. 



Pheasant. There are a fair number of wild-bred pheasants 

 in the Forest, and many reared in neighbouring woods 

 come in for acorns in the autumn. 



Partridge. A good many pairs, both of the gray and red- 

 legged kinds, breed on the more open parts of the Forest. 



Thick-knee Stone Cvirlew or Norfolk Plover. I saw this 

 bird on the 2ist April 1883 on one of the open "plains " 

 in the Fairmead Thicket ; when it rose it flew a few yards 

 only and realighted. I should not have known what it 



