A HISTORY OF KENT 



169. Long-tailed Duck. Harelda glacialh 



(Linn.) 

 A scarce winter visitor. Immature speci- 

 mens are sometimes obtained. I have an 

 adult male shot at sea ofF Dungeness in Feb- 

 ruary 1895 and an immature female from 

 the lake at Bedgebury Cranbrook, 9 Novem- 

 ber 1898. 



170. Common Eider Duck. Somateria moliis- 



sima (Linn.) 

 A rare visitor. There is a specimen in 

 the Plomley collection, obtained at Lydd. 



171. Common Scoter. CEdemia nigra {Linn.) 

 Locally, Black Duck. 



Common from November onwards, and 

 found in large flocks off the coast between 

 Rye and Dungeness. Also off Heme Bay 

 and Whitstable (Dowker). 



172. Velvet Scoter. CEdemia fusca (Linn.) 



Locally, White-winged Black Duck. 

 Not so plentiful as the former species. 



In 



November I have observed small flocks at sea 

 off the Lydd coast. In the Prentis collection 

 there is a pair obtained in November 1898 

 on the Medway. I have also a fine adult 

 male shot off Rye. 



173. Goosander. Mergus merganser, Linn. 

 Rare. I have never met with this species. 



In the collection of Mr. Meade-Waldo there 

 is a specimen obtained near Edenbridge. 



174. Red-breasted Merganser. Mergus ser- 



rator, Linn. 

 Locally, Sawbill. 

 Not uncommon. Has been obtained at 

 Sheerness (Maidstone Museum), and in the 

 creeks of the Medway (Prentis) during cold 

 weather. 



175. Smew. Mergus albellus, hmn. 

 Locally, Small Herring-bar. 



The immature or red-headed birds of this 

 species are sometimes met with, rarely the 

 adults. Mr. Prentis records an adult male 

 from Rainham. 



176. Ring-Dove or Wood-Pigeon. Columba 



palumbus, Linn. 

 A well distributed resident, most numerous 

 throughout the Weald. Towards the end of 

 October our homebred birds are augmented 

 by large flocks of migrants, especially when 

 the year has been good for acorns. They 

 invade our woods in enormous flocks at the 

 fall of the year, staying with us for about 

 a month and then leaving. 



177. Stock-Dove. Columba cenas, hum. 

 Locally, Blue Rock. 



Locally distributed throughout the year, 

 generally observed singly or in small flocks. 

 In autumn partial migrations occur, when 

 parties may be found on the arable fields near 

 the coast and on our marsh land. In some 

 localities it breeds in rabbit holes. 



178. Turtle-Dove. Turtur communis, Selby. 

 A common summer visitor, breeding plenti- 

 fully in our woods and copses. Some years 

 more numerous than in others. 



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



doxus (Pallas) 

 A rare accidental visitor. The occurrences 

 in Kent were during the well known inva- 

 sions of this species to the British Isles — in 

 1859, 1863 and to a smaller extent in 1888. 

 In November 1859 several specimens were 

 obtained on the sands near Lydd. One of 

 these is in the Maidstone Museum, another 

 in a fisherman's house near Rye. The fisher- 

 man, who saw these birds, told me that they 

 appeared on the sands near the dunes after a 

 severe storm, were quite tame, and could 

 have been knocked over with sticks. The 

 next visitation took place in June 1863. 

 On 7 June six birds were seen in the Vale 

 of Elmley, Sheppey. Two of these were shot, 

 a male and female. Two days later another 

 four were seen, and one of these, a female, 

 was obtained. In November 1888 four 

 were seen upon a ploughed field for several 

 days in the parish of Hoo. On 14 Decem- 

 ber during a thick fog, a male bird was 

 picked up dead, with head cut clean off by 

 the telegraph wires on the Isle of Grain rail- 

 way. 



180. Black Grouse. Tetrao tetrix, Linn. 

 This species existed in Kent in the time of 



Henry VIII. ' It is in an ordinance for the 

 regulation of the royal household dated from 

 Eltham that the word " Grouse " makes its 

 first appearance in our language as "Grows"' 

 (Howard Saunders, Man. Brit. Birds, 1898, 



P- 493)- 



In 1853 a grey hen was killed in one of 

 the woods at Hever near Edenbridge, another 

 was also seen (Meade- Waldo). They were 

 still found at that time on Brasted Chart. 



181. Pheasant. Phasianus colchicus, h\nn. 

 Throughout the Weald the numbers of 



pheasants yearly increase. In the Cranbrook 

 district, within a radius of ten miles, large 

 numbers running into thousands are annually 

 reared at Bedgebury, Glassenbury, Angley 



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