BIRDS 



147. Ring-Dove or Wood-Pigeon. Columba 



palumbus, Linn. 



Very common and resident, though their 

 numbers are largely augmented in the winter. 

 In a 'beech-mast' year these flocks often 

 assume vast proportions, and many thousands 

 may be seen together. They breed from 

 early spring to autumn, as I have found nests 

 in March and November. 



148. Stock-Dove. Columba anas, Linn. 

 Common, and appears to be increasing in 



numbers. In the severe winter of 1879-80 

 they were exceptionally numerous; twenty- 

 one were killed at a single shot on a pheasant- 

 feed at Park Place. 



[Rock-Dove. Columba livia, Gmelin. 



A rock-dove is recorded in the Wellington 

 College list, 1870-2, without comment, but 

 inasmuch as the stock-dove is locally called 

 ' rock-dove ' confusion is probable.] 



149. Turtle-Dove. Turtur communis, Selby. 

 A regular summer migrant, breeding in 



numbers especially in the underwoods ; they 

 arrive early in May and return late in Sep- 

 tember. 



150. Pallas's Sand-Grouse. Syrrhaptes para- 



doxus (Pallas). 



During the great invasion of sand-grouse 

 in 1888 a few were recorded within our 

 county limits and probably many others were 

 seen. Mr. Aplin tells me (in lit.) one was 

 taken at Chilton near Hungerford, two near 

 Newbury, two at Peasemore and one on 

 Compton Downs; this last hit the telegraph 

 wires when flying with a flock of about thirty 

 early in January. Three were seen on the 

 railway bank between Twyford and Reading 

 on October 15, 1889 (Field, October 19, 

 1889). Mr. Cornish tells me that about 

 January I, 1889, one was killed at Wantage 

 Road station with a stone, and that a flock 

 were seen by his father on Windmill Hill 

 near Wantage in the autumn of 1888. 

 About the same time Mr. Newton saw some 

 on his farm at Wallingford. 



151. Black Grouse. Tetrao tetrix, Linn. 



It seems doubtful if blackgame were ever 

 indigenous to Berkshire ; but they were 

 introduced into the county, several having 

 been turned down in the royal preserves at 

 Windsor, whence they spread, and many 

 were killed in various parts of the county, 

 especially in 1867. That they bred freely 

 in the summer of 1867 is stated in the 

 Field, October 5 of that year. As recently 



as the spring of 1884 Mr. Phillips tells me 

 he saw a cock and hen within a few yards 

 of one another at Easthampstead, and on May 

 31, 1894, he received three eggs which were 

 part of a clutch of six taken on Yateley 

 Common by Mr. Kelsey of Chandler's farm, 

 Yateley, within a quarter of a mile of our 

 boundary. His men were cutting heather for 

 litter and mowed right over the nest. The 

 eggs were slightly incubated. 



152. Pheasant. Pbasianus cokhicus (Linn.). 



The pheasant is common throughout the 

 county, but it is doubtful if a pure P. colchhus 

 could be found in a wild state in this or any 

 other county in England. The Chinese 

 ring-necked bird, P. torquatus, was intro- 

 duced at the end of the eighteenth century, 

 and now the white ring can be traced in a 

 more or less developed condition in almost all 

 the birds killed in our preserves. 



153. Partridge. Perdix cinerea, Latham. 

 Common in all preserved districts. 



154. Red-legged Partridge. Caccabis rufa 



(Linn.). 



Locally, French Partridge. 

 Acclimatized in England about the end of 

 the eighteenth century, it is now fairly dis- 

 tributed throughout the county. It would 

 be more plentiful were it not for the erro- 

 neous idea that it is hostile to the grey 

 partridge, which has led keepers to destroy 

 both the birds and their nests. It is curious 

 to note Dr. Lamb's remarks on this species 

 written in or about 1814. He mentions two 

 instances of this bird having been killed, and 

 adds, ' probably escaped from some aviary, as 

 they are not known to breed here ' (' Ornith. 

 Bercheria '). 



155. Quail. Coturnix communis, Bonnaterre. 

 A spring migrant, though not nearly so 



plentiful as formerly ; even as long ago as 

 1814 Dr. Lamb wrote, 'About thirty years 

 ago very plentiful, now rare.' In the Zoologist 

 (July, 1868, p. 1294) Mr. Stubbs recorded 

 the finding of a nest and eleven eggs at 

 Remenham on June 8 of that year. This 

 is the only instance that has come under my 

 notice of its breeding in this part of the 

 county ; but Mr. Cornish tells me he has 

 known nests near Childrey and Letcombe, 

 and in 1886 about twelve birds were shot 

 there. 



156. Corn-Crake or Land-Rail. Crex pra- 



tensis, Bechstein. 

 A regular summer migrant, arriving in 



159 



