IN THE KINGSBRIDGE DISTRICT. 5) 
Montagu’s decease) and 1840, when they multiply again, 
plainly shows how Mr. Luscombe and his son missed their 
opportunity ; for we find in decade after decade, in many 
imstances year after year, certain species worthy of notice 
not recorded, and which assuredly must have occurred. 
About 1840 a reviving influence is apparent, which I am 
informed by Mr. Nicholls was due to the greater interest 
taken in Natural History by four persons whose names will 
be ever associated with the Ornithology of the district. I refer 
to Mr. Charles Prideaux, Rev. K. Vaughan, Rev. Courtenay 
Bulteel, senr., and my father, all of whom have left behind 
them some evidence of their interest in Ornithology. In 
1865 Mr. R. P. Nicholls returned from the United States, 
and from that time forward to now both he and his brother 
may be associated with records so abundantly found in the 
various ornithological journals of the day. 
Having now briefly shown to whom we are chiefly in- 
debted for the valuable mass of material we have to work 
upon, let us enter a little into detail as to how the district 
has assisted the Ornithology of the county. 
For the sake of brevity and convenience I have taken 
the subject in decades. 
In the first decade—1800 to 1810—we find recorded 
occurrences of the Garden Warbler, Dartford Warbler, 
Cirl Bunting, Hoopoe, Montagu’s Harrier, Hobby, Osprey, 
Great White Heron, Buff-backed Heron, Spoonbill, Glossy 
Ibis, Bernacle Geese, Smew, Little Bustard, Dotterel, Ruff 
(summer plumage). 
The Garden Warblers noticed were quite accidental 
visitors, as we lie to the westward of the line of their annual 
migration ; just as in the same way, quite recently, Nightin- 
gales (there were many noticed in the hedge with a number 
of Redstarts) occurred at Thurlestone. The Dartford Warblers 
evidently bred in considerable numbers in the early part 
of the century, but then the area of unbroken land was far 
greater than it is now, and furze brakes abounded; we only 
see the bird on migration now in the autumn. An early 
observation of Colonel Montagu’s was to point out, in 1800, 
the Cirl Bunting as a British bird. It is a common species 
in the warmer parts of the Continent, but had not before 
been noticed as indigenous to this country. He found it 
breeding at Tacket Wood, where also, sixty-five years later, 
I took a nest. It is a fairly common resident in the neigh- 
bourhood. The Great White Heron, said to have been seen 
by the Rev. K. Vaughan, must be accepted with reserve. 
