A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 



80. Raven. Corvus ctrax, Linn. 



Once resident in the county, it is now only 

 known as a rare straggler. It is said to have 

 bred in Windsor Park about 1848 (Birds of 

 Berks and Bucks, p. 39). 



81. Carrion Crow. Corvus corone, Linn. 

 Locally, Cor Crow. 



Very local. An odd pair may sometimes 

 be heard or seen in this part of the county, 

 but they are distinctly rare, and I have only 

 known one nest. Once common near Wind- 

 sor, stricter game preservation has brought 

 about their destruction, but in the west and 

 north-west of the county they are plenti- 

 ful, breeding near Faringdon, and in the 

 south near Wellington, while they appear to 

 be most numerous near Challow, as Mr. Cor- 

 nish tells me that a dozen nests could be 

 found in an afternoon's walk from the station. 



82. Hooded Crow. Corvus comix, Linn. 



A winter visitor, but as far as I can ascer- 

 tain never in any numbers. It has been 

 killed at Park Place, and has been seen on 

 Maidenhead Thicket, as well as at Windsor. 

 Curiously enough, it does not seem to visit 

 the north-west corner of the county, and is 

 not recorded in the Radley list. Near New- 

 bury a few are killed most winters, and Mr. 

 Valpy says (' Birds of Newbury and District '), 

 ' I have seen many on the hills near Compton 

 called by the natives the " Chilton Dun 

 Crow." ' 



83. Rook. Corvus frugilegus, Linn. 

 Common and resident. Possibly owing 



to a succession of dry summers this bird, 

 which has been so long protected, has taken 

 to egg eating, and it is high time their num- 

 bers were reduced. Rook shooting is very 

 little practised, and the birds have increased 

 to a large extent. 



84. Sky-Lark. Alauda arvensis, Linn. 



Abundant and resident, breeding in num- 

 bers, especially on the cultivated lands, 

 throughout the county. I have seen white 

 eggs belonging to this species taken at Hener- 

 ton near Wargrave by Mr. Rhodes. In 

 winter, at the commencement of a frost, they 

 may be seen moving in large flocks, and so 

 regular is their line of flight that I have 

 known a man shoot dozens while standing 

 still in his small garden a few poles in extent. 



85. Wood-Lark. Alauda arborea, Linn. 

 Resident in small numbers and extremely 



local. I have never met with it in this part 

 of the county, but it has been recorded from 



near Wellington College, and Mr. Cornish 

 tells me a pair nested in his garden at 

 Lockinge in 1899. Dr. Palmer ('Birds of 

 Newbury and District') says it is 'rather rare,' 

 but breeds most years at Deadmore Bottom 

 and Highclere, just over our boundary. 

 Writing in 1850, Messrs. Matthews stated 

 it was then sparingly distributed over certain 

 parts of the Chiltern Hills. 



86. Swift. Cypselus apus (Linn.). 

 Locally, Devil Screamer. 



Regular summer migrant, arriving about 

 the second week in May and leaving again in 

 August, though a few remain later. Mr. 

 Mackenzie has recorded one from the Bucks 

 side of the river on December 22, 1860 ! 



[Alpine Swift. Cypselus melba (Linn.). 



A bird of this species mentioned in Birds 

 of Berks and Bucks, p. 1 8 1, as killed near 

 Reading is a mistake (see ZooL 1889, p. 415).] 



87. Nightjar. Caprimulgus europeeus, Linn. 

 Locally, Night-Hawk, Fern-Owl, Goatsucker. 



Regular summer migrant, but in greatly 

 reduced numbers in this part of the county. 

 This is due in a great measure to the ignor- 

 ance of certain gamekeepers, who not only 

 destroy this harmless bird in mistake for a 

 hawk, but also, as one informed me, ' because 

 they fly over the coops at night and disturb 

 the birds.' I once found a set of three eggs. 

 The nightjar arrives the second week in May 

 and usually leaves in September. I saw one 

 shot at Rose Hill by Mr. L. Micklem in 

 October ; it is numerous near Wellington 

 and also at Pusey and Wallingford. In Bagley 

 Wood near Radley it is also common. 



88. Wryneck. lynx torquilla, Linn. 

 Locally, Cuckoo's Mate, Snake Bird. 



Fairly common spring migrant. Its pe- 

 culiar note may be heard the second week in 

 April, and by October they have left us. 

 About here this bird is certainly not com- 

 mon, as I have only known five nests in more 

 than thirty years, one of which was placed in 

 a box fastened against a fir tree for the 

 accommodation of tits. From Radley I learn 

 it is a regular visitor, but not in any numbers. 

 Near Maidenhead and Windsor it is more 

 numerous. 



89. Green Woodpecker. Gecinus viridis 



(Linn.). 



Locally, Yaffle, Hickle. 



Our commonest woodpecker ; resident, 

 and almost numerous, in the old beech-wood 

 districts, where it breeds regularly. Whether 



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