THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 794.— August. 1907. 



EECENT OCCURRENCES OF RARE BIRDS IN 



CORNWALL. 



By James Clark, M.A., D.Sc. 



In the present article an attempt is made to notify all specially 

 interesting occurrences of uncommon birds in Cornwall during 

 the last eight years, so far as they have not been already recorded 

 by others in the pages of ' The Zoologist.' Practically all refer- 

 ence is omitted to the Birds of the Isles of Scilly, as these were 

 fully treated in last year's ' Zoologist ' by Mr. F. R. Rodd, of 

 Trebartha, and the present writer. Where no authority is given 

 for the capture of any particular specimen, the bird in the flesh 

 or else the fresh skin was brought into the Schools by one of his 

 students or observers, and identified by the writer. " Reported " 

 specimens are such as have not been seen by him, though there 

 is no doubt as to their genuineness. 



The Lesser Whitethroat was not observed on the Cornish 

 mainland till the 11th of September, 1902, when an immature 

 male was killed near Poundstock. The following year it was 

 specially looked for in that district, and several were seen during 

 the third week in September on the dense hedge-banks between 

 Launceston and Bude. The two shot as voucher specimens were 

 both immature females. In 1904 it was observed near Poughill 

 on the 2nd of October, and an adult male was killed at Bodmin 

 on the 26th of the previous month. Probably, through lack of 

 observers, it was not recorded in 1905, but in 1906 a female was 

 shot in a dense oak thicket near the top of Coomb Valley, Kilk- 

 Zool. 4th Her. vol. XI., August, 1907. z 



