BIRDS 79. Starling. Sturnus vulgaris, Linn. Locally, Shepster. A resident, abundant everywhere, nesting in hollow trees and about dwelling houses so numerously as to amount now to a nuisance. Its numbers are increasing with great rapidity every year. During winter immense flocks con- gregate in every suitable shrubbery. 80. Rose-coloured Starling. Pastor roseus (Linn.). A rare visitor on migration during autumn. 81. Chough. Pyrrhocrax graculus (L'mn.). The chough, or red-legged crow, as it is often called, has no suitable breeding place nearer to Lancashire than Anglesea and the Isle of Man. It frequents the Fells, however. It is said to have nested formerly, if not now, at Whitbarrow in Morecambe Bay, just over the Westmorland border. 82. Jay. Garrulus glaudarius (Linn.). A resident. Common in woods where it is not persecuted by gamekeepers. 83. Magpie. Pica rustica (Scopoli). Locally, Piet, Pyanet. A common resident, but more abundant in the uplands and Fell districts. 84. Jackdaw. Corvus monedula, Linn. An abundant resident throughout Lancashire, breeding in steeples and in old beeches and oaks. 85. Raven. Corvus cor ax, Linn. The raven is a resident breeding annually among the cliSs in the high Fells and on crag ledges of the unfrequented dales of the northern districts. 86. Carrion-Crow. Corvus corone, Linn. Locally, Kar-crow, Doup-crow. A resident species, occurring locally, but every- where becoming rarer through persecution. Its nesting places are chiefly in the retired districts of the Lancashire lakeland. 87. Grey or Hooded Crow. Corvus cornix, hinn. Locally, Manx Crow, Royston Crow, Sea Crow. A late autumn and winter visitor to our shores from the Isle of Man chiefly. In the early hours of a November morning they may often enough be heard announcing their arrival to sleepless dwellers near the coast. In the hurricane of 3 December, 1 821, a very large number of wild birds, such as 'sea-crows, snipe, and other aquatic birds,' were washed ashore dead on the Lancashire coast. (Bland, Annals of Southport, p. 82.) 88. Rook. Corvus frugilegus, Linn. An abundant resident. During severe winter rooks may be seen feeding along the shore singly or in pairs widely separated, in company with plovers, gulls, and starlings. 89. Sky-Lark. Alauda arvensis, Linn, Abundant. 90. Wood-Lark. Alauda arborea, Linn. A once abundant but now very rare species, yet still probably often undistinguished from the sky-lark. 91. Shore-Lark. Otocorys alpestris (Linn.). A very rare visitor and only in winter. 92. Swift. Cypselus apus (Linn.). Locally, Devil skirler, Develin, Devil Screamer. An abundant summer visitant. 93. Alpine Swift. Cypselus melba (Linn.). Of this bird only two occurrences are on record. (Mitchell, Birds of Lancashire, ed. 2, p. 102.) 94. Nightjar. Caprimulgus europaus, Linn. Locally, Night Hawk, Fern Owl. A summer visitant, common in suitable locali- ties. 95. Wryneck. lynx torquilla, Linn. Locally, Lang tongue. Formerly numerous, but now a very rare summer visitor. Observed on Stiperden Moor, Burnley, on 30 August, 1905. 96. Green Woodpecker. Gecinus viridis (Linn.). Locally, Heyhough (Leigh). A resident and not uncommon in thick woods, where it nests, but scarce elsewhere. 97. Great Spotted Woodpecker. Dendrocopus major (Linn.). A sparsely distributed resident, chiefly fre- quenting our fir woods. Specimens were taken on Cartmell Fell and near Ulverston in Novem- ber 1889. It nests in Witton Park, Blackburn. (Zoologist, 1904, p. 260.) 98. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Dendrocopus minor (Linn.). A resident species, but much more rarely seen than the previous species, yet probably more numerous than is generally supposed. Nests are found every year. [Great Black Woodpecker. Picus martius, Linn. Yarrell [History of British Birds, ed. 3, ii. 138) records that an individual had been shot in the county by Lord Stanley, but it was proved to be a mistaken idea. (Harting, Handbook of British Birds, p. 304.)] 99. Middle Spotted Woodpecker. Dendropicus medius (Linn.). One visit of this species to Lancashire is on record. (Pennant, Brit. Zool, i. 180.) [' The Brazilian Magpie.' Rhamphastidarium sp. ig. 195
