BIRDS 



selection there is always a kind of super- 

 structure of its own, which in one nest 

 examined by the writer was composed wholly 

 of dead couch grass, locally known as 'squitch.' 

 It is very rarely that the nest is at any great 

 height from the ground. 



103. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny. 



It would seem that when Hastings wrote 

 in 1834, the kite, though very rare, was not 

 extinct in Worcestershire. His words are, 

 'The Kite, Milvus vulgaris, and Osprey, 

 Balhucardus haliaetus, but very rarely occur.' 

 Lees mentions the middle of the last century 

 as the date when the kite was well known on 

 the Malvern Hills, but was no longer there in 

 1870. Yet he makes the following remark- 

 able statement : ' Curiously enough about 

 twenty years ago the Grimsend estate was 

 unoccupied for a considerable time ; the kites 

 returned to their old haunts, and remained till 

 the Grimsend again secured a tenant.' He 

 records one as having been shot in Croome 

 Park in the winter of 1869-70. I have a 

 note of one having been killed there which is 

 now in the collection of Mr. Martin Curtler, 

 and which may be the bird mentioned by 

 Lees. 



104. Honey - Buzzard. Pernis apivorus 



(Linn.). 

 I can record two instances only of the 

 occurrence of this bird in Worcestershire. 

 One was killed at Eardiston, and is now in 

 the Worcester Museum, and the other was 

 taken at Witley Court about thirty years 

 since, and is now in the collection of the 

 present writer. It is probable that there are 

 other Worcestershire specimens in private 

 collections, for Hastings wrote, ' not of un- 

 common occurrence.' The latest appearance 

 of this fine bird which I can record was about 

 the middle of May, 1894, when one was 

 taken in a jay trap at Ragley Park, on that 

 side of the estate nearest the Ridgeway, which 

 divides the counties of Warwick and Wor- 

 cester. Although therefore it was probably 

 not killed in Worcestershire it must have been 

 in very near proximity to it. 



[Iceland Falcon. Falco islandus, Gmelin. 



In one instance only have I known the 

 Iceland falcon to occur in the midland 

 counties. One was shot by Mr. John Hyatt 

 on his estate at Quinton in Gloucestershire, 

 in very close proximity to the boundary of 

 Worcestershire, in the autumn or early part 

 of winter of 1852. It was seen and examined 

 by me when freshly killed, and the species 

 determined.] 



105. Peregrine Falcon. Falco peregrinus, 



Tunstall. 

 The peregrine is a regular- visitor to our 

 county, no winter passing when a certain 

 number of them are not seen. The vicinity 

 of rivers appears to be the most favoured 

 locality for them, as they prey on teal and 

 moorhens. But peewits, wood-pigeons, and 

 partridges also form part of their diet, and the 

 feathers of these birds are left in the meadows 

 showing what has been their bill of fare. But 

 besides the feathers of the birds on which they 

 have fed, they cast some of their own, which 

 on examination not only determine the age of 

 the traveller but also the sex. Lees appears 

 to have regarded the peregrine as a rare bird, 

 and mentions one killed at Croome Park, 

 'some years ago,' and Mr. W. Edwards re- 

 cords one shot at Cradley in 1872, and 

 another at Evesham in 1878. This falcon 

 builds in Wales not a very great distance 

 from the county boundary. 



106. Hobby. Falco subbuteo, Linn. 



The hobby was formerly a comparatively 

 common summer visitor to the vale of the 

 Avon, when the swallow was an abundant 

 bird, but has now become rare. Several nests 

 have come to the knowledge of the writer 

 in the Avon valley, though only one which 

 was within the boundary of the county. It 

 was found at a place called Porter's Coppice 

 near Evesham, and full-fledged young were 

 taken from it, one of which was seen and 

 examined by the writer. Another nest was 

 discovered near the village of Willersey, 

 Gloucestershire, half a mile from Broadway 

 in Worcestershire. 



The time to see and note the hobby in 

 former years was in the autumn when the 

 swallows were gathered in countless numbers 

 in the evening to roost in the osier and reed 

 beds of the Avon. On the evening of the 

 30th of July, 1847, the writer and two 

 friends took their station near some osier beds 

 at Welford-on-Avon, with the intention of 

 looking after the hobbies which were known 

 to come there to feed on the swallows. The 

 air was literally filled with the latter birds for 

 a distance of a quarter of a mile up and down 

 stream. At first one hobby appeared and 

 passed on rapid wing through and through 

 the cloud of swallows, occasionally making a 

 dash at one. Soon afterwards a second came, 

 followed at intervals by two others, making 

 up four which were in sight at the same time, 

 and were passing backward and forward 

 through the swallows just where they were 

 thickest. One hobby being shot, the others left 



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