House Martin, b. | Magpie. | Peregrine Falcon, pass- |
Sand Martin, b. | Jackdaw. | Kestrel. [ing over. |
Greenfinch, b. | Rook. | Heron, passing over. |
Hawfinch. | Sky Lark. | Bean Goose, ditto. |
Goldfinch, b. | Swift. | Ring Dove, b. |
House Sparrow, b. | Nightjar. | Stock Dove. |
Tree Sparrow. | Wryneck, b.[pecker. | Turtle Dove. |
Chaffinch, b. | Great Spotted Wood- | Pheasant. |
Brambling. | Lesser Spotted Wood- | Partridge, b. |
Linnet, b. | pecker. | Corn Crake, b.[over. |
Lesser Redpoll. | Green Woodpecker. | Stone Curlew, passing |
Bullfinch, b. | Cuckoo. | Lapwing, ditto. |
Crossbill. | White Owl. | Brown-headed Gull. |
Yellow Bunting, b. | Tawny Owl. | Herring Gull, passing |
Starling, b. | Sparrow Hawk. | over. |
Total birds observed, 76; total birds nesting, 36. |
Notes.—The absence of any pond or stream close at hand occasions this list, in spite of its greater richness in the Warblers and Woodpeckers, to contain fewer species than the preceding ones.
Redwing.—Has not been seen for the last five years, and from some cause appears to have deserted the immediate neighbourhood.
Nightingale.—Only occasionally seen in the shrubberies, and does not nest; the situation is apparently too high for it. About a mile away, in thick hedges on lower ground, it is numerous.
Just outside my bounds several other Warblers, not included in the list, are common; these are Wood Wren, Sedge Warbler, and Grasshopper Warbler. Sitting on the lawn one beautiful midsummer night, at least half-a-dozen Grasshopper Warblers were heard "reeling." It was between ten and eleven o'clock, and the village had become hushed in quiet, when first one of these little Warblers began to "reel" in the valley below; another soon started singing, and then another, until their song was heard proceeding from all directions. I have twice identified the Marsh Warbler by the side of the Vallis brook, about a mile to the south of us; on one occasion I watched the bird while it was singing in a poplar by the side of the water.
Sand Martin.— Has been detected nesting in some holes left in the garden-wall where scaffold-poles were once inserted.
Hawfinch.—Barely seen in the garden in summer; a pair or two nest annually in the parish; the village boys have taken the eggs.