114 ORNITHOLOGY OP CORNWALL. 



Oriole at the Scilly Isles in the sjDring months (and which, if I 

 mistake not, has been noted for several consecutive years), in some 

 instances three or four in number, and their appearing in pairs, 

 gives a strong presumption that they contemplated breeding in 

 the dense foliage of the exotic shrubs in the grounds of the 

 Abbey, but the fact is not established. 



Another bird, the " Spoonbill " (Platalea leucorodia), of rare 

 occurrence in England, but now and then obtained in Cornwall, 

 was observed last month for a fortnight, frequenting the pool 

 adjoining Trescoe Abbey. 



The large flight of Crossbills which were distributed over the 

 whole of Cornwall, extended also to the Scilly Isles during the 

 autumnal months. 



There has been nothing of remarkable interest in the Orni- 

 thology of West CornAvall, nor in the county generally, during 

 the past year ; the peculiarly open character of the past winter 

 has not encouraged the visits of our common wildfowl in any 

 great numbers, and we have been without any occurrence of the 

 rarer Anatidce. 



It has been a debateable point amongst the naturalists of Great 

 Britain, especially of late years, whether the " Black Woodpecker " 

 [P. Martins) which is figured in most of the illustrated histories 

 of British birds as belonging to the British Fauna, is really 

 entitled to a place, inasmuch as an investigation into all the 

 alleged instances of its occurrence has failed to support the fact 

 of the authenticity of the published records ; and the following 

 little anecdote will shew how necessary it is to be guarded in 

 giving credence to statements of alleged facts in natural history, 

 which may appear so plausible as not to admit of any reasonable 

 doubt, yet are in reality utterly valueless. 



Mr. Gould, who is most anxious if possible to include this 

 fine species in his illustrations, wrote me word in December, 1868, 

 that he thought he had at last sufficient evidence of the occur- 

 rence of the "Great Black Woodpecker " in the British Islands 

 to Avarrant the insertion of a plate of the bird in his work now 

 publishing on the Birds of Great Britain. He wrote to me as 

 foUoAvs : — 



" I have just received a letter stating that a Great Black Woodpecker 

 (male) was shot a few days since at Beustead, in Hants. My informant 



