BIRDS 



192. Common Tern. Sterna fuviatilis, 



Naumann. 



This is a bird which occurs in some num- 

 bers at the reservoirs every summer, as many 

 as fifty or sixty being sometimes seen there 

 together. It has also been observed at Elstree 

 reservoir, Royston and Sawbridgeworth. 



193. Arctic Tern. Sterna macrura, Nau- 



mann. 



An arctic tern is said to have been obtained 

 at Tring in the spring of 1886. 



194. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn. 

 This little bird usually appears at Tring 



every summer, while it has also been obtained 

 once or twice in the neighbourhood of Roy- 

 ston. 



195. Black-headed or Brown-headed Gull. 



Larus ridibundus, Linn. 

 This gull is a frequent visitor to Hertford- 

 shire, and especially to Tring. It has also 

 been reported from Sawbridgeworth, Hemel 

 Hempstead, Hertford, and Heronsgate near 

 Rickmansworth. 



196. Common Gull. Larus canus, Linn. 



So far as Tring is concerned this gull per- 

 haps comes quite up to its name, as it is 

 certainly one of the commonest of the family 

 there. It has also been recorded from Hemel 

 Hempstead, where one was shot towards the 

 end of 1881. 



197. Herring-Gull. Larus argentatus, Gmelin. 

 Formerly this species was quite a rarity in 



Hertfordshire, very few specimens having been 

 obtained ; but in the autumn of 1898 Mr. 

 M. R. Pryor continually saw small parties of 

 herring-gulls, accompanied probably by some 

 of the next mentioned species, flying over 

 Weston Manor near Stevenage. This species 

 has also occurred at Tring, Berkhamsted, 

 Royston, St. Albans, Hemel Hempstead and 

 Hertford. 



198. Lesser Black-backed Gull. Larus fuscus, 



Linn. 



This is no doubt the black-backed gull 

 which is seen most frequently at Tring, where 

 birds of that description appear every year, 

 and it is to this species that some of the larger 

 gulls seen going over may no doubt be re- 

 ferred. At Munden there is a lesser black- 

 backed gull, which was obtained there between 

 1840 and 1850. 



199. Great Black-backed Gull. Larus mari- 



nus, Linn. 



This bird is stated by Street, the keeper at 

 the Tring reservoirs, to occasionally appear 



there, and his identification is probably correct, 

 as in his letters he especially differentiates 

 between black-backed and great black-backed 

 gulls. It is not however a common visitor. 



200. Kittiwake. Rissa tridactyla (Linn.). 

 There are only about four records of this 



little gull in Hertfordshire. In January, 1885, 

 two were shot at Tring, while in the February 

 following a dead bird was picked up at London 

 Colney. I saw a kittiwake on Berkhamsted 

 Common on May igth, 1895 ; and in January, 

 1897, one was picked up dead in the Priory 

 garden at Hitchin. 



201. Arctic or Richardson's Skua. Stercorarius 



crepidatus (Gmelin). 



This bird was first recorded as a Hertford- 

 shire bird from an example which was shot 

 near Stevenage on November 5th, 1881. The 

 only other county specimen was obtained in 

 the following year, at Langleybury, and was 

 presented by Mr. Loyd to the Watford Public 

 Library. 



202. Guillemot. Uria troile (Linn.). 



In November, 1882, a guillemot was shot 

 by Mr. F. Hicks at Elstree reservoir ; while 

 another was shot on the Hertford meads on 

 April 5th, 1888. 



203. Little Auk. Mergulus alle (Linn.). 

 This is a wanderer, which is usually found 



inland only after very stormy weather. The 

 first recorded bird of this species in Hertford- 

 shire was picked up between Baldock and 

 Royston in 1846. In December, 1882, an 

 old bird, which lived some days in confine- 

 ment, was found alive near Langley, about 

 five miles from Hitchin ; and in 1885 a dead 

 little auk was found in a field near Symond's 

 Hyde, Sandridge. On November 22nd, 1 893, 

 a specimen, which had come to grief at the 

 telegraph wires, was discovered between 

 Litlington and Royston, near the latter of 

 which places another, which is now in the 

 possession of Mr. Nash, occurred in 1894. 

 In the following year several were obtained, 

 one being picked up at Sarratt on January 

 25th, and others being found about the same 

 time near Ashwell, Hitchin and Welwyn. 



204. Puffin. Fratercula arctica (Linn.). 

 This marine species has wandered inland to 



this county on several occasions. In March, 

 1 882, one was picked up alive at Pirton, near 

 Hitchin, another being caught near Broxbourne 

 in the following month, while in November 

 of the same year a third was found at Preston, 

 also near Hitchin. In 1883 a specimen, 

 which had apparently been injured by the 



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