BIRDS 



The list of the birds of Buckinghamshire does not compare very 

 favourably with those of many other counties. It is an inland county, 

 and therefore the numerous birds frequenting or occasionally visiting our 

 coasts are absent or scarce. Compared with many other counties the 

 number of collectors and field-ornithologists is small, and it seems to us 

 that the country people generally are less observant than they are in some 

 other parts of England. 



On the other hand it has a variety of scenery, which has an impor- 

 tant influence on the number of species of its birds. Most of the southern 

 portion of the county is hilly. The ' Chiltern Hundreds ' and ' Chiltern 

 Hills ' are dry, chalky hills, partly wooded, although in places rather bare, 

 and are the home of cirl buntings (Emberiza cirlus], long-eared owls 

 (Asio otus) and others. 



The southern line of Buckinghamshire is separated by the Thames 

 from Berkshire, and this river of course adds many species which would 

 otherwise not occur in the county. The Vale of Aylesbury and- the flat, 

 for a great part grass-covered, northern portion are very fertile, and 

 possess streams and reservoirs, beautifully wooded parks and gardens, 

 which are well stocked with birds. 



We cannot avoid mentioning the Tring reservoirs, which comprise 

 the large reservoirs near Marsworth, Little Tring, and Wilstone. These 

 reservoirs were until quite recently large sheets of water, and they have 

 always been visited by many water and shore birds, otherwise rare and 

 unknown in the neighbourhood. They are well known as places where 

 the great crested grebe (Podiceps crisfatus), numerous ducks and other 

 birds breed. They have not been neglected by ornithologists. In for- 

 mer years the late Rev. James Williams took some rare eggs on and near 

 the reservoirs, which are now mostly in the collection of Miss Ellen 

 Williams of Tring. The Rev. H. Harpur Crewe collated many notes 

 on the birds frequenting these waters, which are mostly included in Mr. 

 Clark Kennedy's book, and more recently the late Mr. J. E. Littleboy 

 published many notes on birds from this neighbourhood supplied him by 

 Mr. Rothschild ; Mr. Alan F. Grossman also has often visited the reser- 

 voirs and obtained notes from the keeper Street. While the Rev. H. H. 

 Crewe claimed the notes on birds recorded from the reservoirs for Buck- 

 inghamshire, and Kennedy incorporated them in his Birds of Berkshire 

 and Buckinghamshire, Littleboy and Grossman have given all their notes in 



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