A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



Lelant, where they appear almost every year, and occasionally linger till the 

 beginning of June, and give rise to the vain hope that they may be breeding. 

 In April, 1870, several flocks of from eight to twenty birds frequented the 

 grounds of Trevethoe for several weeks. Treviden, near St. Burian, and the 

 warm fairly-timbered slopes around Mount's Bay have also great attractions 

 for this beautiful bird of passage. The fire-crest is now an erratic but 

 constant winter visitor to the Lizard and the Penzance district. Though 

 generally occurring in twos and threes, companies of a dozen to twenty have 

 been occasionally seen, and in the winter of 1880-1 and in November, 1905, 

 there must have been many hundreds scattered over the district. The hoopoe 

 is a frequent visitor in the spring, but does not appear to linger. 



In addition to green and golden plover, snipe and woodcock, the winter 

 visitors naturally include a large number of ducks. Mallard breed in the 

 district and are always fairly common on the Loe Pool and on the fresh-water 

 ponds and marshes of the Land's End during winter. So, too, are teal, 

 wigeon, and shoveler, the last-named being at times the most abundant duck 

 in the Land's End district. Pintail, pochard, and sheldrake are by no means 

 scarce, and the other surface-feeding ducks occur irregularly. Coots are often 

 plentiful, many hundreds appearing at a time on the Loe Pool. The red- 

 breasted merganser is a winter visitor of regular occurrence in immature 

 plumage, and in some years is very common. The grey-lag goose has been 

 obtained several times. Brent and bean geese may appear in large flocks, the 

 bernacle goose in little parties, and the white-fronted goose irregularly but 

 not uncommonly, sometimes singly, sometimes in small gaggles, sometimes in 

 considerable flocks. The whooper and Bewick's swans frequented Mount's 

 Bay in some numbers during the severe winter of 1890-1. During the 

 winter the black-headed gull often occurs in considerable numbers, particularly 

 at Hayle. The purple sandpiper, too, is often in evidence both in Hayle 

 estuary and Mount's Bay. The bittern is an irregular visitor to the district, 

 but in the winters of 1880- 1, 1890-1 was fairly common. 



The marsh pools of the Land's End are visited every winter by a variable 

 number of great crested, red-necked, Slavonian, and eared grebes, for the 

 most part in immature plumage, as well as by little grebes which breed both 

 there and by the Loe Pool. The great northern and red-throated divers 

 occur every year off the Lizard, at Mount's Bay, and occasionally at Hayle. 

 The black-throated diver puts in an occasional appearance, and during the last 

 few years has occurred several times between St. Ives and Godrevy. 



The remarkable ornithological character of the district lies not so much 

 in its residents and regular visitors as in the number, variety and nature of its 

 casuals and vagrants. As the most westerly land in England, this district is naturally 

 the seat of extensive migratory movements, and in addition offers the most 

 convenient refuge for continental autumn and winter migrants that, passing 

 southwards along the coast-line of the European mainland, are driven back by 

 contrary winds and storms from the south after passing beyond the mouth of 

 the Channel. For storm-tossed birds from the south, Mount's Bay is not only 

 an ideal haven of refuge, but from its position is the most likely landing-place 

 England for such as are driven northwards when weathering the western 

 promontories of Brittany or in traversing the Bay of Biscay. In autumn and 

 winter large flocks and detached parties of coasting birds of all kinds seek 



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