BIRDS OF THE HARLESTON DISTRICT. 143 



83. *LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER (Dendrocopus minor). 



Rare or perhaps seldom observed. A bird was shot at 

 Mendhara in February, 1881, and one at Pulharn Market last 

 October. 



84. *WRYNECK (lynx torquilla). " Cuckoo's mate." 



A common summer visitor, and one of the best known 

 heralds of the spring. 



85. *RiNG DOVE (Columba palumbus). 



Very common, nesting in nearly all our woods and planta- 

 tions. In autumn great numbers resort to the oak groves to 

 feed on the acorns, and are shot from huts made of furze and 

 hurdles. I have known fifty -four birds, in a small plantation 

 at Starston, fall to a single gun in one day. In the crops of 

 these birds I have found, on dissection, an almost incredible 

 number of entire acorns. 



86. STOCK DOVE (Columba cenas). 



Nests in the hollow trees at Gawdy Hall and Flixton 

 (where I found, in 1880, a nest containing three eggs). I have 

 also found its nest in a hole in the masonry of the ruined 

 wall of Mendham Priory. Flocks of Stock Doves are occa- 

 sionally seen here in winter. 



87. ^TURTLE DOVE (Turtur communis). 



A summer visitant, nesting in the plantations at Gawdy 

 Hall, Starston and Shotford Hill, and, indeed, wherever it can 

 tind a sufficiently dense cover. 



88. *PHEASANT (Phasianus colchicus). 



89. * PARTRIDGE (Perdix cinerea). 



90. *RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE (Caccabis rufa). 



The " French " is decidedly less abundant than the 

 " English " bird in this district. 



91. QUAIL (Coturnix communis). 



An uncertain visitor. In 1880, I believe, one or two pairs 

 nested near the town, and their curious trisyllabic note was 

 noticed by many persons. A bird was shot at Alburgh in the 

 autumn of the same year. Several arrived on the Suffolk side 

 of Scole, May, 1868. (Babington's Birds of Suffolk.) 



