A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



to me the niche in the cliff above Gunner's 

 Pool in Castle Eden Dene, where the pere- 

 grine annually bred in his boyhood (circ. 

 1810), strictly preserved by his father. When 

 the falcons disappeared the little platform was 

 taken possession of by a pair of kestrels, and 

 for many years the kestrels reared their young 

 there. Now the peregrine is seen occasionally 

 on the coast and rarely on the moors, in any 

 case only a passing stranger. 



115. Hobby. Falco subbuteo. Linn. 



A casual visitor, but has frequently occurred. 

 Mr. Hogg mentions one shot at Norton ; 

 Mr. Hancock had one taken in Streatlam 

 Park ; a specimen in Durham Museum was 

 shot at Thornley, in November 1822, and I 

 obtained one at Greatham in 1868. It has 

 been stated, though without sufficient proof, 

 to have nested in Streatlam Park. 



1 1 6. Merlin. Falco aesalon, Tunstall. 

 This beautiful little falcon was formerly 



one of the most interesting objects on all our 

 moors, where it bred regularly among the 

 heather or the rocks. It is now but rarely 

 seen, owing to the exterminator, the game- 

 keeper. There may be a few pairs on the 

 Weardale moors, but I have not seen any of 

 late years. 



117. Red-footed Falcon. Falco vespertinus, 



Linn. 



Once recorded from the county; a specimen, 

 now in Newcastle Museum, in full male 

 plumage, having been shot near South Shields 

 in October 1836. 



1 1 8. Kestrel. Falco tinnunculus, Linn. 



The commonest of our raptorial birds, 

 though vastly reduced in numbers within the 

 last fifty years. Some intelligent game pre- 

 servers, recognising its value, have forbidden 

 its destruction. I once met a gamekeeper 

 who had just killed a kestrel, averring that its 

 crop was full of young partridges. We opened 

 it it contained 127 wire-worms. The 

 keeper was silent. 



119. Osprey. Pandion haliaftus (Linn.). 



A rare occasional visitor, and probably 

 never resident. One, now in the Newcastle 

 Museum, was taken near Heworth on 23 Sep- 

 tember, 1841. Another was shot at Aldin 

 Grange, near the city of Durham, on 22 Oc- 

 tober, 1883. 



1 2O. Cormorant. Pbalacrocorax carboa, Linn. 



Frequent on the coast. Does not now 

 breed in the county. Many years ago it 



nested on Marsden rocks. It often ascends 

 the rivers many miles into the interior. 



121. Shag or Green Cormorant. Pbalacrocorax 



graculus (Linn.). 



Not uncommon on the coast, but not so 

 frequent as the former species. 



122. Gannet or Solan Goose. Sula bassana 



(Linn.). 



Frequently seen on the coast, occasionally 

 far inland. 



123. Heron. Ardea cinerea. Linn. 



The only remaining heronryin the county 

 is that in the park of Raby Castle. There 

 was formerly another at Ravensworth, the 

 seat of the Earl of Ravensworth, but some of 

 the trees having been cut down the whole 

 colony forsook the neighbourhood, and took 

 to an island in Lake Derwentwater, where 

 they nested on the brushwood. In the 

 beginning of the nineteenth century there 

 were heronries near Sedgefield and Gainford. 



1 24. Little Bittern. Ardetta minuta (Linn.). 



Is recorded as having once been taken at 

 Stanhope in 1869 (Zoologist, 1884, p. 101), 

 though it has occurred several times in North- 

 umberland and frequently in Yorkshire. 



The squacco heron Ardea ralloides, Scopoli, 

 is said by Seebohm to have occurred once in 

 Durham, but I have been unable to verify 

 this statement. Mr. Saunders (Yarrell, iv. 

 196) mentions Durham as an accidental 

 locality for the night-heron Nycticorax griseus 

 (Linn.). I think this is doubtful. 



125. Bittern. Botaurus stellarls (Linn.). 



The bittern was a resident in some marshy 

 districts within living memory. It is now 

 only an irregular winter visitor, but always 

 late, generally in the month of February. An 

 aged fowler told me some forty years ago, 

 that in his youth a pair always bred in Cowpen 

 marshes, near Stockton. One was shot there 

 in January 1901. Several have been taken 

 near the Tees. 



126. Black Stork. Ciconla mgra (Linn.). 

 One morning in August, 1862, my children 



came running into my study at Greatham 

 Vicarage, to tell me a black stork was walk- 

 ing about in the Seaton fields. (They were 

 familiar with the bird, as a mounted specimen 

 stood in the hall.) I went out and watched 

 the bird for an hour, marching about in a 

 swampy meadow. The next morning it was 

 still there, but was shot in the afternoon by a 

 man from Hartlepool. It is now in the 

 Hartlepool Museum. 



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