A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



1 26. Common Buzzard. Buteo vulgaris, Leach. 

 Resident ; breeding now in considerable numbers 



from Boscastle to Marsland Mouth ; nests also at 

 Boconnoc, and at times on the Bodmin Moors ; did 

 so some years ago in the Land's End district, but 

 lately birds seen there only at intervals and in the 

 winter. A fairly regular passing autumn visitor to 

 Scilly, singly or in pairs. 



127. Rough-legged Buzzard. Archebutco lapopus (]. 

 F. Gmelin). 



Now a rare casual, but formerly a summer migrant ; 

 in the forties Trathen and Geach used to find it 

 breeding between Jamaica Inn and Bolventor. Trathen 

 shot the last sitting female seen in the county at 

 Gonzion Downs, Snaith, and took the eggs, prior to 

 1860. The only county records since that time are 

 one in the Truro district, date uncertain, and one 

 near Land's End in 1880. 



128. Spotted Eagle, jtquila naevia (J. F. Gmelin). 



An accidental visitor ; one shot in Hawk's Wood, 

 Trebartha Hall, on 4 January, 1 860, by the gamekeeper, 

 H. Couch, ai\d another in November, 1860, at 

 Carnanton, St. Columb, by Sam Gilbert, an innkeeper 

 at Mawgan. 



1 29. Golden Eagle. Aquila cfirysaetus (Linn.). 



A rare casual visitor ; one immature specimen 

 recorded by Couch ' as the ring-tailed eagle ; one 

 killed on Lanherne Downs, in the parish of Mawgan, 

 on 28 October, 1861. 



130. White-tailed Eagle. Haliaetus albicllla (Linn.). 



A casual visitor of rare occurrence ; an immature 

 bird killed near Kilkhampton in November, 1844 ; 

 an adult seen by Walter Pike, of Camborne, near 

 Tehidy, in the autumn of 1877 ; a young bird 

 killed at Bude Haven in November, 1893, and one 

 seen by W. Waddon Martyn at Moorwinstow, in 

 November, 1901. So far no eagles have been ob- 

 served at Scilly, but there is a tradition of one of 

 this species having been seen near The Seven Stones 

 in 1835. 



131. Goshawk. Astur palumbarius (Linn.). 



Bellamy, in his Natural History of S. Devon,' says 

 that a young bird of this species was shot at Falmouth 

 in 1838. The specimen was seen by Stephen Clogg, 

 of Looe, in 1866, who says ' It is a young bird of 

 good size, but ruined by moth.' 



132. Sparrow Hawk. Acclpiter nisus (Linn.). 

 Resident ; still common in the east, but in the 



west the number of nests has greatly diminished during 

 the past ten years. Generally visits Scilly in the 

 autumn with the starlings, but is never common 

 there. 



133. Kite. Mllvus ictinus, Savigny. 



Bred in the county as late as 1842, but for many 

 years a rare casual visitor ; last county records, 

 Trebartha, I December, 1869 ; Clowance, Cam- 

 borne, 1882; Scilly, 9 September, 1890. 



134. Honey Buzzard. Pernus apivorus (Linn.). 



A casual visitor, in immature plumage, to the west, 

 usually in autumn ; eleven specimens recorded from 

 the county, including one at Scilly, shot by Jenkinson 



1 8 October, 1866 ; one at Hobb's Hill, Snaith, about 

 1860, one at Land's End in the autumn of 1901, 

 one at Carclew 1902, and one at Ladock, near Truro, 

 21 October, 1904. There is strong presumptive 

 evidence that this bird may have nested in the county 

 as a very young male, with its primaries not full 

 grown, and which, therefore, could not long have left 

 the nest, was sent to Dr. Leach from Cornwall, and 

 is now in the National Collection. 3 



135. Greenland Falcon. Falco candlcans, J. F. 

 Gmelin. 



An accidental straggler ; an adult female killed at 

 Gwavas Grade, near the Lizard, in 1830; an adult 

 male at Port Eliot, St. Germans, in 1834 ; one at 

 the Lizard 24 March, 1884, and one at Scilly 

 27 March, 1903. A young falcon, either Greenland 

 or Iceland, was shot at St. Just-in-Penwith in the 

 winter of 1902-3. It may have escaped from the 

 Norwegian bark Luna, which foundered with all hands 

 off Pendean. 



136. Iceland Falcon. Falco islandicus, ]. F. Gmelin. 

 A rare straggler ; represented by a single adult 



male, shot at St. Martin's, Scilly, by Dorrien-Smith, 

 15 January, 1895. 



137. Peregrine Falcon. Falco peregrinus, Tunstall. 



Locally, Blue Hawk, Cliff Hawk. 



Resident ; breeds at intervals all round the coast 

 and occasionally inland. Down to 1854 at least, a 

 pair bred regularly on Round Island, Scilly ; then they 

 alternated between Round Island and Menavawr, 

 with an occasional pair on Castle Bryher, but they 

 have not bred at Menavawr since 1896. Though a 

 pair still nest at Scilly in most years, the old haunts 

 appear to be quite forsaken. 



138. Hobby. Falco subbuteo, Linn. 



A not infrequent summer casual ; in 1862 nested 

 in the Old Plantation at Trebartha, and probably at 

 Trelask, near Trebartha, in 1869. A specimen was 

 shot by Jenkinson on St. Mary's Moors previous to 

 1863, and one was found dead near the telegraph 

 wire on St. Mary's on 29 April, 1897. 



139. Merlin. Falco aesalon, Tunstall. 



A winter visitor, as a rule not uncommon on the 

 eastern moors, but in the west of the county some- 

 times not seen for the year. A fairly regular autumn 

 or winter visitor to St. Mary's, Scilly. 



140. Red-footed Falcon. Falco vespertmus, Linn. 



A rare accidental straggler ; one seen by W. P. 

 Cocks at Budock, Falmouth, in May, 1851;' one 

 obtained near Helston in the autumn of 1867. 

 There was also a Cornish specimen in Vingoe's 

 collection. 



141. Kestrel. Falco tinnunculus, Linn. 



Locally, Windhover, Hover Hawk, Criss Hawk. 



A common resident, both in the county and at 

 Scilly ; breeds freely among the cliffs along the 

 coast, and in smaller numbers inland ; in the east of 

 the county commoner in summer than in winter. 



142. Lesser Kestrel. Falco cenchris, Naumann. 



A rare accidental straggler ; an adult male shot at 

 Scilly, 3 March, 1891. 



1 Cornish Fauna, pt. i, p. 10. 

 a Op. cit. p. 198. 



Mag. Nat. Hist. (1837), 339. 

 * Naturalist, i, 163. 



338 



