BIRDS 
as 1865. The late W. Dickinson met with 
a pair at Lamplugh ; and other pairs are be- 
lieved to have nested in Barron Wood and 
Blackwell Wood in single instances. In the 
latter case three eggs were taken from a hole 
in an ash tree by W. McComish. 
94. Great Spotted Woodpecker. Dendrocopus 
major (Linn.). 
A very scarce resident, limited as a breeding 
bird to a few private parks, but the resident 
birds receive some accessions to their numbers 
in some autumns. Thus in 1898 a number 
of these woodpeckers visited northern Britain, 
and several were shot in localities so far apart 
as the north of Sutherlandshire and the shore 
of the Solway Firth. 
95. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Dendro- 
copus minor (Linn.). 
A rare bird within our limits, and unknown 
in the west of the county. The late B. 
Greenwell obtained a specimen near Alston, 
but in Northumberland. Another single bird 
was obtained at Carlisle and Paw Park, while 
a pair was shot at Edenhall. In 1895 a 
charming pet bird of this species escaped from 
me at Carlisle ; but it was never seen after- 
wards, 
96. Kingfisher. Alcedo ispida, Linn. 
A scarce but widely-dispersed resident, each 
pair selecting their own stretch of river, and 
resenting the presence of all intruders. Single 
birds wander in autumn, and appear on many 
beck-sides from which they are absent at 
other times. In January, 1890, that careful 
field naturalist W. Little saw a black king- 
fisher on the Eden near Rickerby. He had 
a very close view of the bird, which carried a 
minnow in its bill, and was certain that it 
was entirely black with the exception of a few 
blue feathers on the rump. 
Coracias garrulus, Linn. 
97. Roller. 
‘Two specimens of the roller were procured 
in the county in the summer of 1868. Dr. 
Lumb of Whitehaven showed me one of 
the two, a bird shot by Mr. J. Dalzell near 
Thornholm. The other was shot at Carleton 
near Carlisle, and taken in the flesh to my old 
friend Sam Watson, who recorded it as a 
female, adding that it was killed on July 17th, 
and that its stomach contained beetles and 
caterpillars. 
98. Hoopoe. Ufupa efops, Linn. 
A rare visitant, but one which has been 
obtained fairly often in the west and north of 
the county. A bright adult female, with a 
backward ovary—the eggs in the ovary being 
no larger than salmon roe—was shot to my 
regret near Drumburgh in April, 1894. I 
added this specimen to the Carlisle Museum, 
together with an immature bird trapped at 
Anthorn in October, 1889. 
99. Cuckoo. Cuculus canorus, Linn. 
Locally, Gowk. 
A numerous visitant to our dales and fell- 
sides, often to be seen mobbed by meadow- 
pipits, which frequently alight on the back of 
the cuckoo and peck vigorously at the in- 
truder. The date of arrival varies. In 1899 
a young cuckoo left the nest of its foster 
parents (a pair of meadow-pipits) on May 
25th, a very early date for the county. 
100. White or Barn-Owl. 
Linn. 
Locally, Chimney-Owl, Cliff-Owl. 
A tolerably common bird, but the object of 
much unworthy persecution, which prevents 
its natural increase. Resident from Bew- 
castle in the north to Penrith in the south of 
the county. 
Strix flammea, 
101. Long-eared Owl. Asio otus (Linn.). 
Locally, Horned Owlet. 
A local resident. Mr. T. C. Heysham 
knew this owl as a breeding bird, but only 
could procure one clutch of eggs in a decade. 
Keepers reduce its numbers sadly with pole- 
traps, but it is fairly constant in its adherence 
to our older fir woods, in which it breeds very 
early in the year; eggs are sometimes laid 
early in March, though owlets may be found 
as late, at any rate, as June. 
102. Short-eared Owl. Asio accipitrinus 
(Pallas). 
Locally, Moss-Owl. 
A winter visitant, occasionally met with in 
flocks on migration, but chiefly singly, gener- 
ally disappearing from our midst in early 
spring, though odd pairs breed with us. In 
1897 two pairs of these owls reared their 
young on mosses near Allonby. A third pair 
nested on a common near Burgh, where I 
photographed the eggs im situ. The eggs 
were found in nido on April 20th, and were 
then six in number ; but when I inspected 
them three days later a seventh had been 
laid. The moor referred to is composed of 
rough heather and coarse grass, and is very 
wet. On the occasion in question I had to 
jump from tussock to tussock for a consider- 
able distance, occasionally sinking ankle deep 
in black mud, before I reached the nesting- 
ground and caught sight of one of the old 
owls as it skulked in the heather with its 
head to windward. It was possible to dis- 
191 
