BIRDS 



26. Hedge - Sparrow. Accentor madularh 



(Linn.). 



One of the commonest birds everywhere. 

 A perfectly white hedge-sparrow was taken 

 sitting on eggs, in April 1848, near Drayton 

 Beauchamp (H. H. Crewe, Zoologist, 1848, 

 p. 2143). A very pale example was caught 

 at Wingrave near Aylesbury on June 2O, 

 1900, and is now in the Tring Museum. 

 It is a young bird of the year. It is buff 

 with brownish centres to the feathers above 

 and on the breast and throat, the tail is 

 creamy white, quills white with reddish buff 

 outer edges, abdomen white. 



[Dipper. Cinclus aquaticus, Bechstein. 



The British dipper differing somewhat 

 from the continental forms or has correctly 

 been separated by Tschusi under the name of 

 Cine/us cinclus britannicus. Buckinghamshire 

 not possessing rapidly-running mountain 

 streams, which are the dipper's home, it can- 

 not be of regular occurrence, and we have no 

 recent records of it. In former times Yarrell 

 stated that it had occurred on the Colne, near 

 Wraysbury, which is on the borders of Buck- 

 inghamshire. According to Gould it has been 

 obtained on the Chess, and the Rev. H. 

 Harpur Crewe said that he had observed one 

 on the canal near Drayton Beauchamp (Clark 

 Kennedy, p. 170).] 



27. British Long-tailed Titmouse. Acredula 



rosea (Blyth). 



(In the History of Herts, ' Birds,' p. 199, the 

 British long-tailed tit is called A, caudata. It is 

 true that Mr. Saunders on p. 5 of his list, 

 from which is taken the nomenclature in the 

 Victoria History of the Counties, puts the ' white 

 headed long-tailed tit ' and the ' British long- 

 tailed tit ' in brackets, as if their distinctness 

 was questionable, but they are perfectly 

 distinct species, and the British form, the only 

 one nesting in the British Islands, must not be 

 called A. caudata!) 



A. rosea, occasionally called ' bottle-tit,' is 

 not a rare bird. It breeds in woods, parks, 

 gardens and thick old hedges. In winter it 

 goes about in small flocks. The continental 

 species, A. caudata, has not to our knowledge 

 been observed in Buckinghamshire. 



28. Great Titmouse. Parus major, Linn. 



The commonest of our tits in the county, 

 and to be met with all the year round. 



29. Coal-Tit. Parus ater, Linn. 



(The more correct name of the British coal- 

 tit is P. ater britannicus. The British coal-tit is 



easily distinguishable by its brownish, not 

 pure bluish-grey, upperside.) 



Not rare, but much more conspicuous in 

 winter, when it generally goes about in flocks, 

 and rambles about over a good deal of ground 

 in search of food, while in the breeding sea- 

 son it does not move far from its home. The 

 suggestion of Mr. Grossman, that 'we have 

 a large immigration ' in winter is not borne 

 out by our observations, as we have never yet 

 seen a specimen of the continental form (true 

 P. ater) from Buckinghamshire or Hertford- 

 shire. 



30. Marsh-Tit. Parus palustris, Linn. 



(The more correct name of the British 

 marsh-tit is P. palustris dresseri.} 



Also by no means rare, though not nesting 

 in very great numbers. (We have no record 

 of the occurrence of the rarer ' willow tit,' 

 which, though a distinct species, is not men- 

 tioned in the recent books of Messrs. Saunders 

 and Harting.) 



31. Blue Tit. Parus c&ruleus, Linn. 



Common. Next to the great titmouse, 

 apparently the commonest of our tits in the 

 county. 



32. Nuthatch. Sitta ca:sia, Wolf. 



(The correct name of the British nuthatch, 

 in our opinion, is S. europeea britannica, Hartert. 

 The central European form, which should 

 be called S. europtea c<ssia, has a much more 

 richly coloured underside.) 



Not uncommon in all well timbered parts 

 woods, parks and larger gardens ; but curiously 

 enough many people are not very familiar 

 with this bird. Mr. Grossman found it parti- 

 cularly common in Burnham Beeches. 



33. Wren. Troglodytes parvulus, Koch. 



(We would prefer the name Olbiorchilus 

 troglodytes, Linnasus. It is in our opinion a 

 pity to set Linnaeus' names aside. The wren 

 is here between the nuthatch and tree- 

 creeper in our opinion in an unsystematic 

 position.) 



The wren is a very common bird all over 

 the county. 



34. Tree-Creeper. Certhia familiaris, Linn. 



(The more correct name of the British tree- 

 creeper, which is easily distinguishable from the 

 typical Swedish C. familiaris, is C. familiaris 

 britannica, Stejn. Cf. Novit. Zool. 1897, pp. 

 136-40.) 



Not at all rare, but often overlooked, being 

 rather inconspicuous and silent. Its pretty, 

 but not at all very loud song is often heard 



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