A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE 



lives in South Littleton. They were busily 

 engaged in feeding on the seeds in the close 

 hard cones which would have defied even the 

 specially adapted mandibles of the crossbill to 

 open had they not been operated on by the 

 vicissitudes of the previous winter. That 

 flight remained two days until the supply 

 of cones was exhausted. 



66. Two-barred Crossbill. Loxia bifasciata 



(Brehm). 

 I am unable to report a second occurrence 

 of this bird in the county. Mr. Strickland's 

 specimen, long ago noticed, is still preserved 

 in the Cambridge Museum. 



67. Corn-Bunting. Emberiza miliaria, Linn. 

 This is one of those birds which, though 



not uncommon, is not by any means abun- 

 dant. In the valley of the Avon (taking in 

 parts of the counties of Warwick, Glouces- 

 ter and Worcester), this bunting breeds by 

 preference in fields of vetches, and the nests 

 are often destroyed when the vetches are con- 

 sumed by horses and sheep. 



68. Yellow Hammer. Emberiza citrinella, 



Linn. 

 This is one of our most abundant resident 

 birds, and the nest is to be found in the bottom 

 of every hedge and brake as well as in the 

 open fields. The song is said by the country 

 people to be as follows : 



' A little bit, a bit, a bit of bread and no cheese.' 

 The ' no ' is strongly accented and the last 

 word drawn out. Another version of the 

 same is — 



'A dish, a dish, a dish of green p-e-a-s.' 

 The last word, ' peas,' being much drawn out. 



69. Cirl Bunting. Emberiza cirlus, Linn. 

 The cirl bunting is not a rare though a 



very local bird in Worcestershire, and is ob- 

 served to frequent the same spot in limited 

 numbers from year to year ; the favoured 

 locality being in the clay districts rather than 

 in the alluvial or sandy ones. It is a shy, re- 

 tiring bird, and frequents trees much more than 

 does the yellow hammer, the male often choos- 

 ing a tall elm for his place of song, from near 

 the top of which you will hear him, but will 

 not easily discover his whereabouts. His song 

 bears considerable resemblance to that of the 

 yellow hammer, but has not the long terminal 

 note. 



70. Reed-Bunting. Emberiza schagniclus, Linn. 

 The reed-bunting, or, as it is often called, 



the reed-sparrow, is a resident, and found by 

 the side of all our streams and some of our 

 pools. 



71. Snow - Bunting. Pkctorophenax nivalis 



(Linn.). 

 It is only in severe winters that the present 

 species make its appearance with us, and then 

 only in small numbers, generally singly. Lees 

 records one instance of its occurrence near 

 Malvern, on the hills, in February, 1856. 

 Mr. W. Edwards mentions having seen on 

 two occasions flocks on the Malvern Hills in 

 severe winters. A specimen in the collection 

 of the present writer was shot in the rickyard 

 at the Manor House, Cleeve Prior, on No- 

 vember 27th, 1849, when it was feeding in 

 company with sparrows and other small birds. 



72. Starling. Sturnus vulgaris, Linn. 



The starling is one of the few birds which, 

 in face of all opposition and in a country in 

 which there is a dense and increasing popula- 

 tion, not merely holds its own but actually 

 increases in numbers. The flocks which ac- 

 cumulate in the autumn to visit some common 

 roosting-place are almost incredible in respect 

 of numbers. The reason of their increase 

 may be found in the readiness with which the 

 starling adapts itself to changes of surroundings, 

 especially at nesting time. Take the follow- 

 ing as an instance. For several years a pair 

 bred in a woodpecker's hole in a large elm in 

 close proximity to the writer's residence, but 

 the tree being blown down it might have 

 been supposed that the starlings would have 

 abandoned the hole, which in the prostrate 

 tree was only a few inches from the ground. 

 It was not so, however, for they entered it 

 and successfully reared a brood in it. 



73. Rose-coloured Pastor. Pastor roseus 



(Linn.). 



Lees in his list of the birds of the Malvern 

 district reports that a female of this species 

 was shot in the vicinity of Powick in August, 

 1855, and to that record I can add the follow- 

 ing : — 



A few years since a bird supposed to be a 

 young starling, which had been shot near 

 Worcester, was brought to Mr. H. Holloway 

 of that city for preser\'ation, and remained un- 

 noticed in his hands until the year 1899, when 

 it was seen and identified by the present writer 

 as an immature rose-coloured pastor. All that 

 could be learned about it was that it was 

 brought when freshly killed by the man who 

 shot it, and that it was in the company of 

 young starlings near to the city at the time. 



74. Chough. Pyrrhocorax graculus (Linn.). 

 This bird was killed at Lindridge in 



November, 1826. It was perched on the 

 summit of a building adjacent to Sir C. Smith's^ 



154 



