ORNITHOLOGY OF RIDING MILL ON TYNE. 99 



some time. The bird contorted its neck oddly while uttering this 

 note, as if its production required a considerable effort. 



Magpie, Pica rustica, Scop. — A resident, somewhat more 

 abundant than the last, and I think on the increase here. 



Jackdaw, Corvus monedula, L. — A resident, breeding in old 

 buildings, in rocks hy burn-sides, in clay cliffs (such as Tliorn- 

 brough Scar), and in the bases of such Rooks' nests as consist of 

 the accumulated materials of several years. 



Carrion Crow, G. corone, L. — A resident, and pretty common ; 

 its numbers have perceptibly deci'eased since 1868. 



Hooded Crow, C. comix, L. — A rare and accidental visitor, 

 only seen about the seasons of the migrations. 



Rook, C. frugilegus, L. — A common resident. There are 

 rookeries near Bywell, Styford, and Healey Halls. 



Raven, C corax, L. — A rare accidental visitor at migration 

 times. I saw one near Sealey in the autumn of 1873 ; another 

 crossed the Tyne Valley near Riding Mill on Oct. 33, 1878. On 

 both occasions my attention was called to the bird by its note. 



Swift, Cypselus apus, L.— A common summer visitor. 



Nightjar, Caprimulgus europcBus, L. — A summer visitor, not 

 uncommon. Breeds in some numbers on and near Broomley 

 Fell, where it is usually to be seen on a summer evening. 



Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Picus major, L. — I possess an 

 adult male, shot near Corbridge in 1872, the only instance of its 

 occurrence that has come under my notice. It nested near Ripon 

 in 1881. 



Green Woodpecker, Gecinus viridis, L. — Occasionally seen in 

 the older woods. Is far from uncommon near Healey and Minster 

 Acres, where I have noted it on a good many occasions. There 

 was a nest near Healey in 1878 in a dying Scotch fir. It used, 

 moreover, to breed regularly at Woodlands, where I have several 

 times found the nest. 



Wryneck, Jy^ix torquilla, L. — I never noticed this bird here 

 till 1883. About the middle of May, in that year, I heard one 

 day the scream of a Wryneck (with which I am familiar) in a 

 damp wood of alder and birch in a gill a little S.W. of Dipton 

 House. I approached the bird and watched it for some time, 

 then and subsequently, but failed to find the nest, of the existence 

 of which I had little doubt. When Mr. Hancock [1. c, p. 24) 

 speaks of Northumberland being the bird's " northern limit," is 



