Page:VCH Kent 1.djvu/330

 A HISTORY OF KENT increased during the last few years. Thick copses in the vicinity of woods are favour- ite resorts, where it is not unusual to find several nests in close proximity to one another. A ' tiller ' or some other small tree is chosen as a look-out post, and this is resorted to some time before building is com- menced. Incubation is performed by the female, who leaves the nest and flies to the ' tiller,' and is there fed by the male. When the young are about a week old the parents display great activity in searching after food. Should the male come to the nest and find his mate feeding the young ones he straight- way impales the prey upon the thorns around the nest and is off again into the thicket. In the less enclosed portions of the county the nest is generally built in thick thorn bushes on the borders of pastures or in roadside hedges. In August the red-backed shrikes with their families may be observed basking on the sunny side of palings that border plantations. By the end of the month these parties have left us. 56. Woodchat Shrike. Lanius pomeranus, Sparrman. A very rare summer visitant. It has been obtained four times in the county : one near Faversham, July 1868 [Zool. 1869, p. 1863) ; two near Rainham, one on 7 May 1868, in the collection of Mr. Walter Prentis ; one caught by bird-catchers in the warren between Dover and Folkestone and identified by Mr. Hammond, in whose collection it may be seen. 57. Waxwing. Jmpe/is garru/us, Linn. A rare winter visitor, by no means regular, many years elapsing between the visits ; the occurrences being generally marked by a severe winter. It appears in small parties and is sometimes found in company with starlings. In the autumn of 1840 a specimen was obtained at Kingston near Canterbury (Pemberton Barlett). In January 1848 eight were killed at Deal. In 1850 a remarkable visitation took place. Several were obtained in January of that year near Maidstone, from Eltham and Rainham, and from Brenchley near Tunbridge Wells. In December 1867 eight specimens were procured in the Plum- stead marshes near Woolwich, and three in the woods about Faversham ; and according to Mr. Prentis of Rainham, ' one was shot from a pair in our woods in 1867, another obtained in an orchard, while a small flock was seen in an orchard near Milton.' The last recorded visitation took place in January 1893, when a female was shot at 280 Smarden, and on 24 January a male at Marden. Both specimens I examined in the flesh ; they were shot when in company with starlings, and were feeding at the time on the haws in a hedgerow. The winter was a severe one. 58. Pied Flycatcher. Muidcapa atricapillci, Linn. A scarce spring and autumn migrant. There is no evidence of its breeding in Kent. In the autumn of 1894 I obtained near Cran- brook a female, evidently on migration. It was at the top of a tall oak tree and in com- pany with some willow-warblers. In the collection of Mr. Prentis there is an adult male, obtained at Rainham in 188 1. 59- Spotted Flycatcher. Linn. Muicicapa grisola, A well distributed summer visitant, arriving in the county during the first week in May. It is wonderfully punctual in its appearance every summer, and for three consecutive years I have recorded its arrival within a day of each other. It leaves in the middle of Sep- tember. 60. Swallow. Hirundo rustica, Linn. A well known summer migrant, but not so plentiful during the last fsw years. The migration movement southward in autumn may be well noticed on the south coast be- tween Rye and Dungeness. Throughout September large batches of swallows on migra- tion break their journey along this portion of the coast. Flock after flock comes and goes, always edging to the eastward — to Dun- geness, where the crossing is effected. 61. House-Martin. Chelidon urhica (Linn.) A common summer migrant. In many localities it nests in considerable numbers, but in others it has disappeared, owing to the persecution it receives from the house-sparrow, which appropriates and takes possession of its nest. 62. Sand-Martin. Cottle rtparia (Linn.) A summer migrant of local distribution. It nests in many of our railway cuttings and sand pits. Throughout the Weald it is by no means common. It breeds near Cran- brook, where I have taken the eggs ; near Dover ; and there is a large colony close to the station at Chislehurst. The breeding distribution of this species in Kent may be roughly taken as running along the chalk range from Dover to the neighbourhood of Sevenoaks. Regarding the migration of this species, as