THE BIRDS OF CORNWALL. 205 



Osprey; a casual autumn visitor to the estuaries of the 

 west and to Scilly; been very rarely seen for fifty years, last 

 county records, Hayle, 1864, and Pendarves, Camborne, about 

 1882; a few protected eyries exist in Scotland; an almost 

 cosmopolitan bird ; breeds freely from Lapland to Spain. 



Cormorant ; resident ; common and generally distributed 

 along our coasts and estuaries ; most abundant in the west ; 

 resident at Scilly ; generally distributed over Europe, Asia, and 

 northern Africa. 



Shag ; resident ; commoner than the Cormorant, especially 

 in our estuaries ; resident at Scilly ; breeds along the Atlantic 

 coasts of France, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. 



Gannet ; a winter visitor, following the shoals of pilchards in 

 the autumn, often remaining till the late spring ; commonly 

 occurring as far east as Mevagissey ; at Scilly is to be seen the 

 whole year round, but does not breed there ; essentially a bird of 

 the north ; descends in winter as far as north Africa ; abimdant in 

 north America. 



Heron ; resident ; not uncommon but somewhat local ; 

 frequents our estuaries, creeks, and mudflats ; a common visitor 

 at Scilly, but does not breed there ; very abundant on the Fal 

 and Truro river, thirty-six having been counted on a single 

 journey between Falmouth and Truro; breeds in suitable 

 localities over the greater part of Europe. 



Purple Heron ; an accidental visitor of rare occurrence, one 

 having been obtained at Killiow, Truro, one near St. Buryan, in 

 1850, one on the Tamar in 1851, one at the Lizard in 1867, and 

 one at Scilly in 1878 ; essentially a bird of southern Europe it 

 breeds as far north as Holland; migrates into Africa on the 

 approach of winter. 



[Little Egret ; two specimens mentioned in Couch's "Cornish 

 Fauna" as having occurred in Cornwall about 1825 ; one or two 

 on the Tamar recorded in 1862 ; fairly common in the Mediterra- 

 nean region, it occasional^ wanders to the north of France and 

 Holland.] 



SquaCCO Heron ; an accidental spring visitor at irregular 

 intervals chiefly to the west of the county, including Scilly ; been 

 taken more than twenty times ; a summer migrant from Africa into 



