Page:The New Forest - its history and its scenery.djvu/331

 . (Troglodytes Europæus, Cuv.)

. (Sitta Europæa, Lin.)

. (Alcedo ispida, Lin.) Not very common, yet it may now and then be seen at Darrat's stream, near Lyndhurst, the brook in the Queen's Bower Wood, and the Osmanby Ford river, near Wootton.

, (Columba palumbus, Lin.)

. (Columba ænas, Lin.) Numerous, building in the holes of the old beech-trees.

. (Phasianus Colchicus, Lin.)

. (Tetrao tetrix, Lin.) Feeds on the young shoots of heather and larch, seeds of grass, blackberries and acorns, and I have seen it repeatedly perching in the hawthorns for the sake of the berries. The "heath poult" of the Forest.

. (Perdix cinerea, Lath.)

. (Vanellus cristatus, Meyer.)

. (Ardea cinerea, Lath.) See Chapter XXII., pp. 273, 274. I have known a pair lay, in one instance, at Boldrewood, as late as June 23rd.

. (Totanus calidris, Lin.) This bird is certainly a resident throughout the year. I have repeatedly put it up during the autumn in some of the swamps near Stoney Cross, more especially in the evening, when it will hover round and round, just keeping overhead, not unlike a pewit. Several nests are yearly taken. Last year Mr. Farren found one near Burley, April 4th, with a single egg, and another, May 3rd, containing four, at Bishopsditch.

. (Scolopax rusticola, Lin.) Breeds in great numbers in some seasons.

. (Scolopax gallinago, Lin.) The greatest numbers occur in December, though many remain to breed not only in the "bottoms" of the Forest, but the meadows of the Avon. Mr. Rake informs me that a Sabine's snipe (Scolopax Sabini, Vigors), which is now generally regarded as only a melanism of this species, was shot at Picket Post, Jan., 1859. Another was shot not far from the borders of the Forest, at Heron Court, 1836.

. (Rallus aquaticus, Lin.) Most common in the winter. Some few, however, breed in the valley of the Osmanby Ford stream, where I have seen a pair or two in the summer time.

. (Fulica atra, Lin.) A straggler generally every year remains to breed on the Avon.

. (Cygnus olor, Boie.) Large numbers belonging to Lord Normanton's swannery may be always seen on the Avon, near Fordingbridge and Ibbesley.

. (Anas boschas, Lin.) Breeds, like the teal, in most of the bottoms throughout the Forest, as also in the Avon. The fowlers round Exbury say that the wigeon, too, stays to nest; but I do not know of any authenticated case. Mr. Rake has also oberved the tufted duke as late in the year as May.

. (Anas crecca, Lin.)

. (Podiceps minor, Lath.) Known in the Forest as the di-dapper. A few breed in the Boldre Water, and, perhaps, even in the Osmanby Ford stream. Mr. Rake tells me that it breeds plentifully in the Avon, between Fordingbridge and Downton.

. (Uria troile, Lath.) Locally known as the "spratter."

. (Alca tarda, Lin.)

. (Carbo cormoranus, Meyer.) Locally known as the "Isle of Wight parson."

. (Carbo cristatus, Tem.)

. (Larus argentatus, Brun.) It is to be seen at all seasons with the four birds above mentioned, breeding like them in the Freshwater Cliffs of the Isle of Wight. The shag and the cormorant were the commonest 309