Page:VCH Cornwall 1.djvu/371

 BIRDS fairly-sheltered land by the middle and lower reaches of the Camel, in the fertile valley of the lower Allen, and the long low-lying stretch of land between Pentire Point and St. Tudy. The estuary and tidal river have naturally a considerable influence on the bird-life, while the low-lying land from Wadebridge southwards facilitates the passage of birds into the district from the southern half of the county. The wild coast-land to the east is the home of the chough and the buzzard. Probably nowhere in the British Isles is the latter so common as between Hennacliff and Boscastle. To see half a dozen at a time is a common occurrence, and this year five nests were found along half a mile of cliff face. The chough is unfortunately scarce, but has lately been increasing. The raven is also unusually common in the east of the district, especially about Kilkhampton. The white-tailed eagle appears to be an occasional visitor to the cliffs between Hennacliff and Bude, and peregrines still breed sparingly on the coast. The sheldrake nests regularly and in increasing numbers at the mouth of the Camel, its only breeding station in the county. The stock-dove breeds among dead gorse on the cliff face, and on the undercliff at Dizzard Head and elsewhere, while the rock-dove has recently established itself at several centres along the coast. The rock-pipit is locally plentiful. The shag is common, but the cormorant somewhat scarce. The oyster-catcher now breeds as far east as Bude, and the razorbill and guillemot at intervals up to the Gull Rock, near Marsland Mouth. The puffin nests in considerable numbers at Tintagel, and there is a colony every year at Trevalga. The herring-gull is locally common, but the lesser black-backed gull relatively scarce. Two or three pairs of the greater black-backed gull breed every year. The kittiwake is often much in evidence, but does not appear to nest. In spite of the increasing number of jackdaws, bird-life, however, except about Gull rocks and other favoured spots, is not by any means abundant on the coast. Of small land birds the most interesting is the lesser white-throat, which occurs as a fairly regular autumn casual between Launceston and Bude, but has not been observed anywhere else in the county, except once at Scilly and once at Bodmin. The absence of suitable cover on the long stretches of exposed land naturally results in a scarcity of warblers, wagtails, goldcrests, and many other small birds, and a greatly interrupted distribution of the starling, the jay, the rook, and the hooded-crow. While the dipper, willow-warbler, great, blue and long-tailed tits, wren, grey wagtail, meadow-pipit, chaffinch, greenfinch, linnet, corn and yellow buntings, swallow, martin, magpie, nightjar, green woodpecker, and cuckoo are widely distributed, the whitethroat, blackcap, spotted flycatcher, nuthatch, sand-martin, pied wagtail, gold-crest, coal-tit and marsh-tit, though all breeding in the low-lying portion of the western area, are practically limited in the eastern half to the valley of Bude, where most of them are autumn migrants. There is, however, a large colony of sand-martins at Widemouth every year. The goldfinch is fairly common about Boscastle, and, like the bullfinch, occurs in several of the coombes. The long-eared owl appears to be unknown, except by the Camel to the south of Egloshayle. The white owl still lingers in the St. Minver district and about Poundstock. 319