90 



THE NATURALIST. 



S. rubicola, Lath, which was the object of my walk, hut of them hereafter. 

 The common stretches to the river in a level plain for nearly a thousand 

 yards from the foot of the incline. The rifle butts are placed here, and it 

 is one of the finest ranges in the country ; a range of considerably over a 

 thousand yards can be obtained by firing across the Thames. Cockmarsh is 

 is a good place for birds ; Mr. Briggs has shot here the Wheatear, 8. oenanthe 

 Lath. , rather rare near Cookham, and several of the Snipes and Sandpipers. 

 At the left hand side of the common by the river is a sandy cove where the 

 latter resort. He once killed two of the common sandpiper, Totanus Hypo- 

 leucos, Tern, at one flying shot here ; from the summit of the hill a magnifi- 

 cent prospect can be obtained of the country for miles round ; which, 

 after my recent experience of London smoke, I thought looked beautiful. 

 I proceeded to the furze bushes, where, sure enough, was a female Stonechat, 

 my shot missed her and she flew away unhurt. Having loaded my gun, I 

 walked further on till I came to another detachment of furze, where I found 

 my friend again hopping about from bush to bush, uttering her harsh "chat, 

 chat." There was a plantation hard by and as I was afraid of disturbing the 

 game, I allowed the Stonechat to rest and walked on. I could hear 

 the Turtle Dove, Colurn.ha Turtur, Linn, and the Cuckoo, Cuculus 

 canorus, Linn, mingling their notes in the plantation close to me. 

 A nightingale S. Luscinia, Lath, popped out of a bush, not ten yards off, and 

 began pecking ; I did not disturb him, and he continued to peck vigorously 

 for a minute or two, and then hopped into a hoUybush, whence issued imme- 

 diately a most melodious thrill, which however was not of long duration, as 

 it was too early in the evening for his song. I saw him afterwards about 

 twenty yards further down, hopping along the bottom of the hedge, and 

 occasionally making a spring out on to the grass to pick up an apparently 

 dainty morsel. This is the second time I have had the opportunity of 

 observing the nightingale closely ; the first, was in Huntingdonshire, about 

 three years ago, about nine o'clock in the evening j I was walking through 

 a hayfield at the time, when his song arrested my attention, and I 

 managed to get close to him, so that he was on the one side of the hedge and 

 I on the other, and, looking through the boughs, I could watch him easily, 

 I noticed he sprang about on his perch, very like the way the Siskin does. 

 But to return to my story, while watching the nightingale a fine Eing 

 Dove, O. Palumbus, Linn, flew over my head, I also saw a male Kestrel, F. 

 tinnunculus, Linn, hovering over the wood; these birds are not rare 

 near Cookham. Down in the wheatfields below I heard the Landrail. 



