On the Nesting of Birds in Wiltshire. 559 



I proceed now to enumerate the species which have been 

 known to breed in this county ; and the table which I here offer 

 is for the most part that with which I supplied Mr. A. G. More 

 when, in 1864, he was preparing his valuable treatise, 'On the Dis- 

 tribution of Birds in Great Britain during the Nesting Season,'* 

 when he applied to me to furnish him with a list from Wiltshire ; 

 and in compliance with his request, I went carefully into the 

 subject, with a view of contributing as accurate a list as I could 

 draw up. It is a copy of that list, with such additions and 

 modifications as the further experience of the last twenty-three 

 years has given, that I now lay before my readers. Those printed 

 in italics have either altogether ceased to breed in Wiltshire, 

 or have only vary rarely been known to breed within the county. 

 To each of these species I propose to call attention in due course. 

 Let me, however, here remark that, for every nest discovered, there 

 are probably two or three which escape detection ; so that even 

 those species which have only been recognised once or twice as 

 nesting within our borders may possibly'do so somewhat more 

 frequently than is generally supposed. 



1. Peregrine Falcon. That this noble bird used to breed in 

 Wiltshire even so late as the beginning of this century 

 we have seen above; for they had a nest in Wilton Park 

 annually, until driven away by the overbearing Ravens. 

 And that they bred, or attempted to breed, on the spire of 

 Salisbury Cathedral in quite recent years we are also posi- 

 tively assured (see above, p. 70). 



2. Hobby (see p. 73). 



3. Kestrel (see p. 80). 



4. Sparrow Hawk. 



5. Kite. Fifty or sixty years ago the nest of this species was 



well known in Wiltshire (see p. 83, 84), but now, not only is 

 the nest never found amongst us, but the bird, too, is no 

 longer to be seen within the county. 



* Printed in the Ibis for 1865, pp. 1-26, 119-143, 425-458. 



