BIRDS 



176. Common Curlew. Numenius arquata 



(Linn.) 



An occasional winter visitor only, appar- 

 ently halting for a time on its way across the 

 country. Its well known whistle may not 

 infrequently be heard in the night. 



177. Black Tern. Hydrochelidon nigra (Linn.) 

 An uncertain though not very rare visitor 



to the streams of the county. On several 

 occasions adult birds have been met with in 

 the spring on the Avon at Warwick, Strat- 

 ford, and Bidford, and on the Arrow at 

 Alcester. In the autumn immature birds 

 sometimes appear. It is reported to be not 

 infrequent in the north part of the county 

 in the spring and autumn. 



178. White-winged Black Tern. Hydro- 



chelidon leucoptera (Schinz) 

 One of these birds was shot while flying 

 over the Avon near Welford on 8 May, 

 1884. The stream at that place divides the 

 counties of Warwick and Gloucester. The 

 specimen was in adult plumage, but the sex 

 could not be determined. 



179. Gull-billed Tern. Sterna ang/ica, Mon- 



tagu. 



A bird of this species was shot flying over 

 the reservoir at Wormleighton on 24 April, 

 1876, and brought to Mr. Peter Spicer for 

 preservation. From Mr. T. Ground I learn 

 that a gull-billed tern occurred at Coleshill 

 in 1899. 



1 80. Sandwich Tern. Sterna cantiaca, 



Gmelin. 



A sandwich tern was shot at Hampton in 

 Arden in April, 1876, and brought to Mr. 

 Peter Spicer of Leamington. Mr. Chase 

 records this as an occasional autumn visitor, 

 and says that it has occurred at Castle Brom- 

 wich. 



1 8 1. Common Tern. Sterna Jluviati/is, 



Naumann. 



This is by no means a common bird in the 

 county, but has often been confounded with 

 the arctic tern, which is less rare on the 

 spring migration. A pair of common terns 

 in adult plumage were shot together over the 

 Avon near Luddington on 18 August, 1841. 

 Since that date a few others have appeared. 

 Mr. Chase however speaks of it as being 

 often observed around the city of Birming- 

 ham during spring and autumn migration. 



182. Arctic Tern. Sterna macrura, Naumann. 

 More common than the last species in the 



spring and autumn migration. The great 



flights which appeared on the Severn and 

 Avon in May, 1842, extended up the latter 

 river to its source. Most of the specimens 

 brought to the bird stuffers in the autumn 

 have been immature birds. 



183. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn. 



A rare straggler on our streams, but it has 

 been shot on the Avon as high up as War- 

 wick. 



184. Sabine's Gull. Xema sabinii (J. Sabine) 

 Mr. Chase says, ' Once occurred near Coles- 

 hill in October, 1883.' 



185. Little Gull. Larus minutus, Pallas. 



A specimen of this small gull was shot 

 while flying over the Avon near Bidford and 

 brought to Stratford for preservation, where 

 the writer saw and examined it. The plum- 

 age was that of an immature bird. 



1 86. Brown-headed Gull. Larus ridibundus, 



Linn. 



The distance of this county from the sea, 

 and the absence of a river estuary, must 

 materially influence the appearance of many 

 marine birds such as the gulls, and accord- 

 ingly the records of their appearance are 

 very meagre, and like all the others the 

 present species is only known as a straggler, 

 though immature examples are not of rare 

 appearance in the autumn. 



187. Common Gull. Larus canus, Linn. 

 An occasional wanderer only, but some- 

 times staying in the open fields and feeding 

 on earthworms. 



1 88. Herring-Gull. Larus argentatus, Gmelin. 

 Like the last only an uncertain visitor, 



though adult as well as immature birds have 

 been observed. 



189. Lesser Black-backed Gull. Larus fuscus, 



Linn. 



An uncommon straggler, which has how- 

 ever been observed at many places in the 

 county, including the north, as noticed by 

 Mr. Chase. 



190. Great Black-backed Gull. Larus marinus, 



Linn. 



Of rare occurrence. It seldom makes a 

 halt in in its flight across this county. An 

 example is reported to have been taken at 

 Shustoke. 



[Pomatorhine Skua. Stercorarius pomator- 



hinus (Temminck) 



Reported by Mr. Chase as very rare in the 

 Birmingham district.] 



205 



