BIRDS 
January 1894; a fourth, shot I believe at 
Biddenham, was set up for the late Mr. C. 
Howard, Mr. A. Covington says that one 
or more of these buntings used to be brought 
in every winter. He saw three together in 
company with two stonechats near Cardington 
Cross in March 1897, and again, two at 
Putnoe in February 1899. On 7 Novem- 
ber 1900 a male was obtained at Keysoe 
and another at Ampthill in November 1903. 
71. Starling. Sturnus vulgaris, Linn. 
An exceedingly numerous resident though 
a partial migrant, and it is probable that 
large numbers are autumn immigrants and 
winter with us. 
72. Rose-coloured Pastor. Pastor roseus (Linn.) 
The only instance of this rare migratory 
straggler to our islands occurring in Bedford- 
shire was brought to my notice by the late 
Mr. Cane, taxidermist of Luton, who stated 
that a young bird of the year was killed at 
Barton-in-the-Clay in August 1855." 
73. Jay. Garrulus glandarius (Linn.) 
Locally, Jay-pie. 
In all the larger woodlands this bird be- 
comes very common if game preserving is 
not carried out too strictly, but even then it 
seems capable of withstanding all the devices 
used for its total extermination. 
74. Magpie. Pica rustica (Scopoli) 
In years past, before game preserving 
became so extensive as at present, the magpie 
was common generally, but nowadays it has 
become far more local. In the poorer agri- 
cultural districts, where no quantity of game 
can be supported, we now find this bird most 
abundant ; in such districts as around Stags- 
den and Turvey and even more so in the 
neighbourhood of Bolnhurst and Thurleigh 
it is very common. Throughout the whole 
of the northern portion of the county it 
occurs more or less plentifully, whereas in 
the southern half it is rarely met with, and 
in many parishes is unknown. A variety, 
with the usual black portion of the plumage 
considerably pied with white, was killed many 
years ago at Sherhatch Wood. 
75. Jackdaw. Corvus monedula, Linn. 
Although a fairly common resident, it is by 
no means so abundant a bird with us as in 
other parts of the midlands. In many of 
the parks, where the holes in old timber offer 
suitable accommodation, such as at Woburn, 
Ampthill, Silsoe, Turvey and Bromham, it 
1 See also the Naturalist, 1856. 
nests very freely. Formerly it nested in 
many of the church towers in the county, 
but at the present day I am only aware of 
one at Marston Morteyne church. 
76. Raven. Corvus corax, Linn. 
Until the middle of the nineteenth century 
the raven must have been fairly well known 
as a resident bird within the county, in all 
probability continuing to nest regularly where- 
ever it had done so from time immemorial. 
As Davis, on the authority of Mr. H. Thomp- 
son in his History of Luton and Neighbourhood, 
published in 1855, refers to the raven as com- 
mon, we can at least infer that one or more 
pairs had nested regularly up to that date in 
that particular district. At Haynes Park in 
1849 a pair still had their home. A former 
keeper there, named Franklin, told me these 
birds each year occupied a group of tall elms, 
which were known as the ‘Raven tree 
clump.’ As soon as the young were strong 
upon the wing the whole family departed 
from that immediate locality, and were not 
seen again till the old pair returned the fol- 
lowing spring. Occasionally one of the pair 
would be shot, but the remaining bird, after a 
lapse of a few days’ absence, always returned 
with a fresh mate, whence no one knew. 
Although his father, who was at that time 
head-keeper, frequently gave orders for the 
destruction of these birds, on account of the 
damage caused by them amongst the young 
poultry and game, no one cared to carry out 
his orders ; as for himself, he added, he would 
sooner have lost his situation than have killed 
one. ‘They continued breeding there up to 
the time he left that neighbourhood. ‘In 
Silsoe Park, a pair built every year in the 
large elm trees that stood on Cain Hill; the 
young ones were frequently robbed and taken 
up to London by some of the servants and 
sold. This pair still continued nesting there 
in the year in which the present house was 
being rebuilt’ (J. S. Wright), ‘ At South- 
hill Park, some fifty years ago, when I was 
working on that estate, every year a pair 
nested in one of the large oaks, standing be- 
tween the house and the lake. They still 
continued nesting there when I left that 
village in 1844” (J. King). The last nest- 
ing haunt of the raven in the county, as far 
as I am able to ascertain, was in Woburn 
Park. ‘To my knowledge a pair nested in 
Woburn Park from 1848 to 1871, in which 
year I left there. For twenty years they 
built in what was known as “ the big beech,” 
a tree unique for its perfectly smooth bole, 
measuring in height some 54 feet to where 
the branches all grew out together in a 
115 
