Page:VCH Berkshire 1.djvu/206

 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE some numbers about the end of April or early in May and returning at the end of September, though a few remain far later and I have shot one in November. It is partial to the Thames meadows, where its harsh notes may often be heard throughout the night. 157. Spotted Crake. Porzana maruetta (Leach). This species is a spring visitor, and owing to its retiring habits probably not nearly so uncommon as might at first sight appear. I have no actual proof that it has bred within our limits, but strong presumptive evidence that such is the case. Mr. Wallis tells me he has often flushed them in the breeding season at Thatcham, and has the skin of one killed there ; and Mr. Aplin mentions one killed in its first dress near Newbury in July, 1889. The records of its capture in the county are numerous. 158. Carolina Crake. Porzana Carolina. Although the true home of this bird is temperate North America, yet it has been known to visit our shores on at least three separate occasions and cannot any longer be denied a place amongst our accidental visitors. The first example was shot in October, 1865, on the banks of the Kennet near Newbury by Mr. H. S. Eyre, and exhibited by Profes- sor Newton at a meeting of the Zoological Society on February 14, 1866. The second was taken near Cardiff in 1888 (Birds of Glamorgan, p. 113), and the third shot in the island of Tiree, Scotland, and exhibited by Mr. E. Lort Phillips at a meeting of the B.O.C., November 20, 1901. 159. Baillon's Crake. Porzana baillonl (Vieillot). Clark Kennedy says (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 1 96), ' a single specimen was shot near the town of Newbury in Berks several years ago, but I have been unfortunately un- able to gain any further information.' 1 60. Water-Rail. Rallus aquaticus, Linn. The water-rail is resident in suitable locali- ties, but very local as a breeding species. I have seen several nests taken in the marshes not far from Reading, but in other places where the conditions seem similar I have never found this bird in the nesting season though numerous in winter. On April 26, 1896, Mr. Lindley found a nest with eight eggs near the Great Meadow Pond, Wind- sor Park (Bucknill in lit.). 161. Moorhen. Gallinula chloropus (Linn.). Very numerous on the river, and almost every pond has its pair or two. Although a beautiful bird in itself it is not desirable that protection should be afforded to an indefinite extent as the water-hen is a sad destroyer of ducks' eggs, and I have many times caught them in the act of eating the eggs of our tame waterfowl. 162. Common Coot. Fulica atra, Linn. Locally, Bald Coot. Resident, though not nearly so common as the last species ; it is seldom seen on the banks of the Thames except in winter, and I doubt if ever it breeds there, though it undoubtedly does so on many lakes and ponds throughout the county. Mr. Aplin tells me he saw numbers on the Kennet in 1889. 163. Great Bustard. Otis tarda, Linn. There is little doubt that this magnificent bird was at one time resident and bred on the open downs of Berkshire, but it has long since passed away and the records left behind are meagre in the extreme. The only note I can find is from the pen of Dr. Lamb, who, writing in or about 1814, says of this bird : ' Sometimes seen on Lambourn Downs (par- ticularly March, 1802) before they were enclosed.' The only actual case of its having been taken in the county that has come under my notice is that mentioned by Yarrell (Zaol. 1856, p. 4995) wherein he records the capture of a wounded bustard by a small boy at a farm called ' Starve-all ' near Hun- gerford on January 3, 1856, which proved on dissection to be a male, and he considered about eighteen months old. It passed into the possession of Mr. W. H. Rowland and was preserved for him by Lead beater. The Rev. A. C. Smith (Birds of Wilts, p. 385) considers that this bird was wounded by one of Lord Ailesbury's keepers who fired a long shot at a bird which he supposed to be an eagle flying over a part of Marlborough Forest called Henswood. 164. Little Bustard. Otis tetrax, Linn. One was shot in September, 1858, by Messrs. Burgis and Meyrick, Fellows of Magdalen and St. John's, Oxford, while shooting together on one of the St. John's farms near Bagley Wood (W. D. Mackenzie in lit.). 165. Stone-Curlew. (Edicnemus scolepax (S. G. Gmelin). The ' thick-knee,' as this bird is sometimes called, is a regular summer visitor, but from its partiality to open heaths and waste lands it is very local in its distribution. As a rule l6o