A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



176. Ruff (? Reeve). Machetes pugnax 



(Linn.). 



Kennedy mentions a specimen shot near 

 Chcsham. It was shot at Dinton Hall on 

 August 8, 1774, and it has occasionally been 

 shot on the Tring reservoirs, specimens shot on 

 September 5, 1894 and September 19, 1898, 

 being in the Tring Museum, but not on 

 August 17, 1 895, as Mr. Grossman says. 



177. Common Sandpiper. Tetanus hypoleucus 



(Linn.). 



A common bird in the migration periods. 

 It has been reported to breed on suitable 

 watercourses, such as the Chess, Colne, etc., 

 which is probably correct, as it may be seen 

 during the greater part of the year in most 

 of these places. Frequently called the ' sum- 

 mer snipe.' Mr. Cocks tells us that it is 

 now much rarer on the Thames. 



178. Wood - Sandpiper. Totanus glareola 



(Gmelin). 



Uncommon, but a more or less regular 

 visitor during the migration periods, and 

 generally stated to be rarer than the follow- 

 ing species, which is however not the case 

 near Tring. 



179. Green Sandpiper. Totanus ochropus 



(Linn.). 



Also seen during both migration periods, 

 especially the autumnal one, but nowhere 

 frequent. 



[Mr. Grossman, in the list of birds of Hert- 

 fordshire, has not mentioned the recording of 

 a specimen of the Marsh-Sandpiper, T. stag- 

 natilis, by W. Rothschild in October 1887. 

 This bird was identified by means of Dres- 

 ser's Birds of Europe, and with regard to the 

 note in Mr. Saunders' Manual (p. 620) E. 

 Hartert can only say that in 1891 he found 

 his collaborator fully acquainted with the 

 distinctive characters of T. stagnatilis and all 

 its allies. Unfortunately the specimen in 

 question was inadvertently burnt by the care- 

 taker with a number of other very rare birds 

 in 1890.] 



1 80. Redshank. Totanus calldris (Linn.). 

 Occasionally met throughout the county. 



At Dinton Hall it was shot on August II, 

 1774. We have several specimens from the 

 Tring reservoirs, where we have often seen 

 the bird. A few years ago Mr. Charles J. 

 Wilson observed one and sometimes two 

 pairs of redshanks frequenting the river 

 Ouse, just above Olney, during the months 

 of May and June, for two or three years, 

 and he is inclined to think that this species 

 may breed there, which is quite possible. 



181. Greenshank. Totanus canescens (Gmelin). 

 A more or less regular, though not fre- 

 quent visitor, especially during the autumnal 

 migration. 



182. Bar-tailed Godwit. Limosa lapponica 



(Linn.). 



' For a notice of the only occurrence in 

 Buckinghamshire I am indebted to the Rev. 

 Bryant Burgess of Latimer, who kindly wrote 

 me word that in the first week of May 1 846 

 a pair of these birds were observed to frequent 

 a field on the farm of Mr. Biggs, in the 

 parish of Slapton. The hen bird was shot 

 by Mr. Biggs, but unfortunately he neglected 

 to skin it, and it became putrid. When in 

 this state it was examined by Mr. Burgess, 

 who found it to be in an intermediate state 

 of plumage, having nearly acquired the red 

 breast which is peculiar to this species in sum- 

 mer ' (Clark Kennedy, p. 193). 



In winter 1895 (the exact date was not 

 noted down) a man in the employ of Mr. 

 H. M. Roberts in Ivinghoe shot a specimen 

 that was feeding (or resting) near the brewery 

 (H. M. Roberts in litt.). 



183. Curlew. Numenius arquata (Linn.). 

 Sometimes the cry of this bird is heard at 



night, and small flocks are seen in the county 

 during the migration periods, especially near 

 the Thames and other waters. Specimens 

 have been obtained near Chesham, Maiden- 

 head, Woburn and in the Chiltern Hills 

 (Kennedy, p. 143). In 1900 one was shot 

 near Dinton Hall. 



184. Whimbrel. Numenius phaopus (Linn.). 

 According to notes given by the Rev. H. H. 



Crewe to Clark Kennedy, this bird is often 

 seen on the reservoirs and canals near Halton 

 and Tring, but we have no recent evidence 

 of this. Two were shot in the north- 

 eastern corner of Buckinghamshire, not far 

 from the river Ouse, in the second week of 

 May (Aplin, Zoologist, 1894, p. 267). 



185. Black Tern. Hydrochelidon nigra 



(Linn.). 



A not unfrequent but somewhat irregular 

 visitor to the Thames and other waters 

 throughout Buckinghamshire. In the late 

 spring and early summer it appears however 

 every year in some numbers on the Tring 

 reservoirs. ' These birds were shot by Sir 

 John van Hatton and the Rev. W. Nance on 

 May 10, 1774, at Elthorpe ' (Dinton Hall 

 MS.). 



1 86. Sandwich Tern. Sterna cantiaca, Gmelin. 

 Mr. Heneage Cocks (Zoologist, 1895, p. 



150 



