318 BIRDS OF LAUDERDALE 



The lament so often heard about the decrease of tlie Lark 

 finds little justification in the opener parts of Lauderdale. 

 As you cross the hill to Stow in the springtime, the air on 

 both sides of the road seems alive with singing larks. One 

 bird of the fields — the Corn-Bunting — is rather rare with us. 

 Two or three pairs at long distances from one another are all 

 we possess. Last year an old nest with an addled egg was 

 shown me from the Chester Acres, but allowing a good margin, 

 a dozen Corn-Buntings would be a liberal estimate of all to be 

 found each season in Lauderdale. Whinchat and Stonechat 

 are distributed sparingly, but we have abundance of Wheatears. 

 A bird of the open that has increased as a nesting species in 

 several parts of the parish within more recent years is the 

 Redshank. The Cuckoo calls his name to all our hills. 



The Wood Grouse was seen in a plantation on Boon Hill, 

 but this the largest, if not the handsomest member of the 

 Tetrao7iidre, is not yet a Border bird. Owls are plentiful 

 enough in our woods — both the Tawny and the Long-eared 

 kinds. One late afternoon some time before sunset I saw 

 one of the latter sitting on a fence close to the road, the 

 ear tufts standing well out. The Barn Owl has left us for 

 many years, and one is never heard of. Our larger and older 

 woods form a safe retreat for the Greater Spotted Woodpecker, 

 and we have several of these birds. A great many of the 

 decaying woodland trees bear traces of the borings produced 

 by their powerful bills. In March Woodpeckers begin 

 the strange sounds of the mating season, which are heard 

 a long way off. Two years since I was taken to see one of 

 their nests with fully fledged young in a birch tree. Last 

 year the same pair, probably, made their nest in a fir tree 

 quite near this birch. Fortunately apart from their own 

 secretive habits they are well protected. There is no good 

 evidence of the occurrence of the Lesser Spotted or the Green 

 Woodpeckers. Its laughing cry would soon betray the latter 

 bird if ever it came. Bing-Dove and Stock-Dove frequent all the 

 woodland, and nest within a few yards of my own house, the 

 former having reared its young one season in a large rhodo- 

 dendron bush. A pair of Stock-Doves have nested for years 

 in a tall pollard aspen thickly covered with ivy, and quite 



