BIRDS leaving 162 non-breeding species, for the most part winter immigrants or casual visitors. There are also 22 other birds v^^hich, although mentioned in the list, are not included in the number of recognized species, for the reasons either that their specific value is not universally acknowledged, or their claims to have occurred in this county are in some way not satis- factorily established, viz. : — Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail Pallas's Great Grey Shrike Holboell's Redpoll Russian Bullfinch (P. major) Red-barred Crossbill Eagle-Owl Pelican ' Great White Heron Little Egret BufF-backed Heron Canada Goose Egyptian Goose Harlequin-Duck Hooded Merganser Rock-Dove Virginian Colin Green-backed Gallinule Cream-coloured Courser Eastern Golden Plover Sabine's Snipe Wilson's Petrel Ringed Guillemot But for the absence of Mr. J. H. Gurney from England, I should have had the advantage of being associated with him in the preparation of the list which follows ; but he has generously allowed me to make use of the information contained in a previous joint list of the same kind, and has read the proofs before they were finally settled. 1. Missel-Thrush. Turdus viscivorus, Linn. A common resident. 2. Song-Thrush. Turdus musicus, Linn. Common, and generally distributed in the summer months ; like many others of our sum- mer residents, it is a partial migrant, the local race passing south, and their places being taken by immigrants, which sometimes are very nu- merous. Turdus iliacus, ' Redwing. Linn. Fieldfare. Turdus pilaris, Linn. White's Thrush. Turdus varius, Pallas. Is a rare accidental visitor, it has only Common winter immigrants. occurred once, on October loth, 1871, at Hickling. 6. Blackbird. Turdus merula, Linn. The same remarks apply to this species as to the thrush. 7. Ring-Ousel. Turdus torquatus, Linn. The ring-ousel is rather an uncommon spring and autumn visitor ; it is suspected to have nested in Norfolk on a few occasions. 8. Wheatear. Saxicola cen- anthe (Linn.). 9. Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.). Regular sum- mer migrants, breeding in Norfolk.
- There is good reason to believe that a species of pelican in times past was an inhabitant of the
fens of East Anglia. Bones of a bird of this genus, believed from their large size to belong to P.crispus, a native at present of southern Europe, have on two occasions been found in the Cambridgeshire fens, and once in Feltwell Fen, Norfolk, part of the same ' level.' In one of the Cambridgeshire instances the bones were those of so young an individual as to indicate that the species was probably a native of the locality and not a mere casual visitor to this and other suitable localities in England. This assump- tion is rendered the more probable from the discovery of the bones of pelicans, apparently of the same species, in the remains of an ancient lake dwelling near Glastonbury, Somersetshire (73//, 1899, P- 353)- Sir Thomas Browne makes allusion to a pelican shot on Horsey Broad on May 22nd, 1663 ; but with his usual cautiousness adds that it may have escaped from St. James's, as he heard that one of the king's pelicans was lost about the same time. However that might have been there is no doubt that the broads at that time were extensive enough to attract any rare water-bird that chanced to find its way to our coast, and the month of May is just that in which this southern species would be likely to occur. 227
