A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



of rare occurrence. In some years an 

 unusually large immigration of this bird takes 

 place to the eastern parts of England, and then 

 some few stragglers reach the south-western 

 counties, and frequent the moors for a time. 

 Examples occurred in Devon, principally on 

 Dartmoor, in November, 1836, 1848, 

 October, 1875, 1876, 1877, and March, 

 1883. A black variety was killed in north 

 Devon about Christmas, 1875. 



125. Spotted Eagle. Aquila maculata (J. F. 



Gmelin) 

 An eagle believed to have been one of this 

 species was shot in the winter of 1858 on 

 Lundy Island by Mr. Spencer Heaven. It 

 rolled over the cliffs and was lost. Two 

 examples have occurred in Cornwall, one on 

 4 December, i860, not far from the Devon- 

 shire boundary. 



[The golden eagle [Aquila chrysaetus) was 

 formerly supposed to visit Dartmoor, and to 

 have bred on the Dewerstone on the Plym 

 near Plymouth. There is however little 

 doubt that the eagles that had an eyrie there 

 belonged to the next species.] 



126. White-tailed Eagle. HaliaHtus albicilla 



(Linn.) 

 A casual visitor of occasional occurrence. 

 It formerly nested at the Dewerstone, on the 

 Plym, and on Lundy Island. It does not 

 now breed anywhere in the county. Most of 

 the examples met with at the present day 

 occur in the autumn and winter months, and 

 are young birds of the year on passage south. 

 The most recent instances of its occurrence in 

 Devonshire were as follows : An eagle 

 probably of this species was seen on Dartmoor 

 in May or June 1891, and an immature 

 female was trapped at Dartmouth in the autumn 

 of that year. Another immature bird weigh- 

 ing 8 lb. was shot at Bude Haven in 

 November 1893 ; and an example, also 

 immature, at Stokeley in November 1899. 



[The occurrence of the goshawk {Astur 

 palumbarius) in Devonshire is extremely 

 doubtful. It appears to have been admitted 

 to the county fauna on the authority of Dr. 

 Andrew Tucker of Ashburton, who included 

 it in a ' List of some rare Land Birds which 

 have been discovered in the neighbourhood of 

 Ashburton ' in Jones' Guide to the Scenery, 

 1823. A reported occurrence at South 

 Tawton in 1830 is not worthy of credence.] 



127. Sparrow-Hawk. Accipiter nisus (Linn.) 



The sparrow-hawk is still, as formerly, the 

 most abundant species of hawk in Devonshire, 



and is rather a common resident in all parts of 

 the county that are well wooded. There is 

 sometimes a considerable influx of this species 

 into western Devon in autumn, as in Sep- 

 tember 1873, and September and November 

 1874. An albino was killed at Castle Hill, 

 north Devon, on 28 June 1849. An old 

 male shot on 21 November 1891, between 

 Modbury and Ivybridge, was of a smoky tint 

 all over. 



128. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny. 

 Locally, Fork-tailed Kite. 



A casual visitor of very rare occurrence, but 

 said to have been common in the neighbour- 

 hood of Dartmoor at the end of the eighteenth 

 century, and to have bred at Holne Chase. 

 Montagu however, writing in 1813 (Supp. 

 Orn. Diet.) stated that in twelve years he had 

 only seen one kite in the southern district of 

 the county, and in a MS. notebook for 

 1798 he observes that he had met with 'the 

 kite rarely ' in Devon. In all probability the 

 * kitts ' or ' keets ' so often mentioned in the 

 churchwardens' accounts in rural parishes, 

 and for whose destruction rewards were paid, 

 were only buzzards, then, as now, known by 

 those names. About ten examples of the 

 'fork-tailed kite' have occurred in Devon 

 within the last fifty years, generally in spring 

 and autumn. They were mostly obtained in 

 the south-western part of the county. The 

 last occurrence however was a fine male shot 

 at West Down near Ilfracombe in October 

 1886. 



129. Honey-Buzzard. Pernis apivorus (Linn.) 

 A casual visitor of very rare occurrence 



during the spring and autumn migration. 

 Seven specimens have been obtained in Devon 

 since 1813. A very fine male bird was 

 caught in a gin oil Lord Morley's property 

 near Plymouth in July 1850. It was ob- 

 served by a keeper sitting on a pheasant's nest, 

 and had been feeding on the eggs. The last 

 that occurred was an immature bird shot at 

 Spriddlestone near Plymouth, 12 October 

 1881. It has only occurred once in north 

 Devon. 



130. Greenland Falcon. Falco candicam, 



J. F. Gmelin. 

 Three or four examples of this fine falcon 

 are known to have occurred in Devon. One 

 was winged and taken alive on the Lynher 

 river near Plymouth, 7 February 1834. 

 Another was shot on Lundy Island in the 

 month of November, many years ago, by Mr. 

 Philip Wathen. A Greenland falcon is said 

 to have been seen by Mr. Henry Swaysland, 



312 



