BIRDS 



109. Kingfisher. Akedo ispiJd, Linn. 



Resident ; except in the Launceston district and on 

 the Camel and the Fowey, scarcer now during the 

 breeding season than formerly, but still widely spread 

 throughout the county ; more abundant in winter 

 than in summer except about Launceston. Has 

 occurred at Tresco, Bryher, St. Mary's, and Tean, 

 and among the western rocks as an accidental winter 

 visitor, almost always singly. 



no. Roller. Coracias garrulus, Linn. 



An accidental vagrant, obtained at least seven times 

 in W. Cornwall, the two last records being Land's 

 End, June, 1861 ; and St. Burian, October, 1887. 

 Not recorded for Scilly. 



in. Bee-eater. Merofs aplaster, Linn. 



A rare accidental straggler ; four seen and two 

 killed at Madron in 1807, twelve seen and eleven 

 killed at Helston in May, 1828 ; one repeatedly seen 

 at Scilly, June, 1878 ; two or three seen and one, a 

 male, shot at Holy Vale, St. Mary's, in October, 

 1901. 



112. Hoopoe. Upttpa epops, Linn. 



A regular spring visitor in small numbers, occasion- 

 ally repassing in autumn. In 1901 a pair nested 

 near St. Columb. Five eggs were laid, of which four 

 were hatched, and the young birds were successfully 

 reared. In April, 1903, five were seen together on 

 Castle Down, Tresco. 



113. Cuckoo. Cuculus canorus, Linn. 



A summer migrant, not nearly so common as in the 

 midland counties, but generally distributed ; remark- 

 ably common about Truro in 1892 ; in most years 

 common about the Lizard and at Scilly. At Holy 

 Vale, St. Mary's, as many as nine have been seen at 

 one time. 



114. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Cuculus americanus 



(Linn.). 



A rare accidental straggler ; one Cornish specimen 

 referred to by Yarrell, and one picked up dead near 

 Helston in October, 1887. 



115. White or Barn Owl. Strix flammea, Linn. 



Resident ; formerly much commoner in the east 

 than in the west of the county, but through foolish 

 persecution now almost extinct in many districts ; 

 increasing about Launceston and St. Minver. A 

 single specimen shot by Jenkinson, 13 November, 

 1858, is the only record for Scilly. 



1 1 6. Long-eared Owl. Asio oils (Linn.). 



A winter visitor in the east and throughout the 

 south of the county, but a casual in the north ; 

 commoner in the west than in the east, but evidently 

 local. Common at Scilly in autumn and winter, not 

 infrequently occurring with the short-eared owl. 

 Chiefly found on Tresco. 



117. Short-eared Owl. Asio accipitrinus (Pallas). 



Locally, Woodcock Owl. 



A winter visitor to the greater part of the county 

 and to Scilly, but most in evidence in the east on 

 autumn migration ; usually more abundant than the 

 preceding species. In some years very common at 

 the Lizard. 



1 1 8. Tawny Owl. Syrnium aluco (Linn.) 



Resident ; generally distributed through the wood- 

 land districts, and in some places abundant. 



119. Little Owl. Athene noctua (Scopoli). 



A rare accidental straggler ; one specimen killed at 

 Constantino in 1828 and one at St. Keverne in 

 1830 ; subsequent records doubtful. 



1 20. Snowy Owl. Nyctea scandiaca (Linn.). 



An accidental straggler till lately represented by a 

 single storm-battered specimen found near St. Germans 

 in 1838, and recorded by Bellamy in his Natural 

 History of South Devon, p. 201. Couch saw it in the 

 Rev. Mr. Hore's collection, and mentions it in his 

 Cornish Fauna. 1 In September, 1905, an adult bird 

 was shot on St. Martin's, Scilly, and is now in the 

 Abbey Collection. 



121. Hawk Owl. Surnia funerea (Linn.). 



A rare accidental wanderer ; a single specimen of 

 the dark American form taken in an exhausted con- 

 dition from the rigging of a collier off the coast of 

 Cornwall in March, 1830.* % 



122. Scop's Owl. Scops giu (Scopoli). 



A rare accidental wanderer ; one captured in an 

 exhausted condition on Tresco, in the first week of 

 April, 1847 ; one at Trevethoe, near Hayle, in 

 January, 1871. Vingoe had two Cornish specimens 

 that probably also came from Scilly. 



123. Marsh Harrier. Circus aeruginoius (Linn.). 

 Now a rare casual, but formerly bred in the east of 



the county, where it was generally called the ' Moor 

 buzzard ' ; nested every year in a tuft of stunted 

 willows in the middle of Redmoor Marsh till about 

 1855, and up till 1863 stray birds were seen in that 

 neighbourhood almost every year. Has been 

 obtained several times in the Penzance district, once 

 at Swanpool, Falmouth, and thrice at Scilly. 



1 24. Hen Harrier. Circus cyaneus (Linn.) . 



A casual visitor of not infrequent occurrence ; 

 has been known to breed on Goonhilly Downs 

 (F. V. Hill) and has nested in the county for the last 

 three years ; occasionally met with on the moors of 

 the middle and west, but rarely of the east. Until 

 about 1875 female hen harriers were to be seen at 

 Scilly almost every year, though only one male had 

 been shot. During the last twenty-five years one 

 example only has been obtained, namely, in May, 

 1888. 



125. Montagu's Harrier. Circus cineraceus (Montagu). 

 Has been a scarce summer migrant to the west of 



the county for at least forty years, but in the early 

 fifties was a rare casual ; still breeds in the Lizard 

 district, where a bird was unfortunately killed in 

 1902, and another, an adult female, by mischance in 

 April, 1903 ; stray birds occasionally recorded be- 

 tween Penzance and Truro, and at long intervals from 

 the east and north. First recorded from Scilly in 

 April, 1852, when three were shot, but apparently 

 not seen again till April, 1868. It is still an occa- 

 sional visitor, chiefly in the spring, and was seen on 

 St. Martin's, 9 April, 1903. 



1 Op. cit. pt. ii, p. 69, App. 



* Thompson, Proc. 2ml. Sac. (1835), 77. 



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