BIRDS 



the possession of the Rev. W. Smith Tompkins of Weston-super-Mare, 

 who placed it at the disposal of the editor of the Zoologist, and it was 

 published in that periodical for August, 1880 (p. 313, etc.). 



A few notes on Berkshire birds are to be found in a series of 

 papers on ' Birds of Oxfordshire and its Neighbourhood,' written by the 

 Revs. Andrew and Henry Matthews in the Zoologist, 1849 (p. 2423, 

 etc.). Mr. Charles E. Stubbs, for many years resident at Henley-on- 

 Thames, who died in 1872, left a valuable MS. entitled 'A slight 

 sketch of the Ornithology of Henley-on-Thames,' and many of his 

 notes refer to the Berks side of the river. They were written in 

 1867. In 1868 appeared a little work entitled Birds of Berkshire and 

 Buckinghamshire ', by the late A. Clark Kennedy, written during his boy- 

 hood at Eton. Mr. W. H. Herbert compiled ' Notes on some of the 

 Rarer Birds observed in the Neighbourhood of Newbury ' for the New- 

 bury District Field Club Report, 1870-1. In May, 1886, the late Dr. 

 Montagu H. C. Palmer contributed four long articles on ' Birds of New- 

 bury and District ' for the Newbury Weekly News. I am indebted to 

 Mr. O. V. Aplin for permission to make many extracts from his Birds 

 of Oxfordshire (1889); and I have also utilized the late Rev. A. C. Smith's 

 Birds of Wilts (1887), Mr. J. A. Bucknill's Birds of Surrey (1900), the 

 Wellington College Natural Science Report, as well as the Fauna and Flora 

 of Radley and Neighbourhood. Other notes have been culled from the 

 Zoologist, Field, etc., and I am deeply indebted to the many kind corres- 

 pondents who have furnished valuable details regarding the ornithology 

 of their districts. The greater part of my life has been spent in the 

 area between Maidenhead and Reading, and, with the exception of 

 observations made during short visits to other portions of the county, I 

 have had to rely on the kindness of my correspondents. 



Leaving out those birds which have obviously escaped from con- 

 finement, our Berkshire list will be found to comprise 216 species. Of 

 these 65 are resident, 150 are migrants or accidental and rare visitors, 

 while 98 are breeding species. To the last may be added about six 

 which certainly bred here formerly, but have long since ceased to do so, 

 and a single species the dipper which, as far as I know, has only once 

 nested within our limits. 



1 . Missel-Thrush. Turdus visdvorus, Linn. times a very early breeder, as I have seen 



Locally, Stormcock. eggs by February 14 in the exceedingly mild 



Common throughout the county, and breeds s P rin g of 1 8 94- The well known nest needs 



in all suitable localities ; an exceedingly shy no description, but an exception to the rule 



bird except during severe weather or in the was found here in a nest whlch * without 



nesting season, when it often becomes very the watertight lining of rotten wood and clay, 



bold in defence of its young. On one occa- fine g rass takm S lts P lace ' 



sion I saw a pair dash at a female sparrow- ,,- , .,. T . 



LiL-uuj uj i u ^. Redwing. Turdus iliacus, JLinn. 



hawk which had approached too close to their , , . . 



nest and successfully drive her away. A winter migrant, arriving about the third 



week in October and leaving in March. 



2. Song-Thrush. Turdus musicus, Linn. Large numbers may sometimes be seen feed- 



Locally, Throstle, Mavis, Thresher. ing in the Thames meadows together with 



Abundant, especially in summer, and some- other members of the thrush family, and in 



141 



