BIRDS 143. Osprey. PanJion haliaetus (Linn.). A casual autumn visitor to the estuaries of the west and to Scilly, usually in immature plumage. At least eight specimens have been obtained since 1849, the last three being : one at Mawnan, Falmouth, in October, 1865 ; one at Pendarvis, Camborne, in the autumn of 1882, and one at St. Winnow, Lostwithiel, in March, 1903, which may have been the same bird that was seen by Clark at Godrevy and Lelant in September, 1902. One that used to roost on the flagstaff at the beacon on Castle Downs, Tresco, was shot by Pechell in September, 1849. 144. Cormorant. Phalacrocorax carbo (Linn.). Resident ; fairly common and thinly distributed along the coast and estuaries ; more in evidence in the west and round the Lizard district than else- where ; abundant at Scilly. 145. Shag. Phalacrocorax graculus (Linn.). Resident, both in the county and at Scilly ; much commoner as a breeding bird than the cormorant ; not uncommon in the winter on Dosemary Pool and other inland waters. 146. Gannet or Solan Goose. Sula bassana (Linn.). A common visitor to the Cornish coast all the year round, but most frequently seen in the autumn in small flocks. It flies westward in October, and returns with the pilchard shoals which migrate east- ward along the south coast later on in the same month. It has never been known to breed in the county. It may be seen on the open seas round Scilly at all times, but does not as a rule come among the islands. 147. Heron. Ardea cinerea, Linn. A common resident. There are heronries near Truro, Lostwithiel, Looe, and St. Germans, but so far as can be ascertained none in the north of the county. Herons, however, are to be seen at Scilly, and on most of the streams and shallow ponds of Cornwall all the year round. The Stack Rock between Tresco and St. Martin's, and Gathers between St. Martin's and St. Mary's can almost always show one or two birds, and twenty or thirty at a time is by no means an uncommon sight. 148. Purple Heron. Ardea purpurea, Linn. An accidental straggler, chiefly to the west of the county ; an adult shot at Killiow, Truro, about 1 843 ; another at St. Burian, 8 April, 1850 ; a third on the Tamar, in 1851 ; a female killed at the Lizard in April, 1867 ; one in rufous immature plumage shot by Dorrien-Smith on St. Mary's Moors 30 August, 1878, and another immature bird at Scilly in April, 1898. [Little Egret. Ardea garzetta, Linn. Couch, in his Cornish fauna (pt. i, p. 22), says of this species, ' One or two specimens are known ' ; and J. Brooking Rowe l speaks of ' one or two specimens on the Tamar.' In the absence of an authentic Cornish specimen, however, these statements are too vague to entitle the species to a place in the county ornis.] 149. Squacco Heron. Ardea ralloldes, Scopoli. An accidental straggler in the spring, chiefly to the west of the county, including Scilly. Over twenty specimens have been taken in the county, but none in adult plumage. 150. Night-Heron. Nycticorax griseus (Linn.). A casual visitor, usually in April or May, of which eleven well-authenticated samples, chiefly adults, have been recorded for the county. A pair in adult plumage, shot near Hayle in the second week of May, 1869, suggested the possibility of its breeding in the county. A solitary example was knocked on the head by David Smith in a clump of bushes on Tresco 15 May, 1849. 151. Little Bittern. Ardetta minuta (Linn.). A casual visitor, probably often overlooked ; an adult female picked up in an exhausted condition on Coverack beach previous to 1850 ; an adult male shot at Tresco, Scilly, 13 June, 1866 ; an adult male captured in an orchard in the parish of St. Hilary 12 October, 1867 ; an adult female obtained at Skewjack, near Land's End, in the end of May, 1 870 ; and an adult male, with a broken leg, picked up on Lostwithiel Parade early in August, 1901. 152. Bittern. Botaurus stellaris (Linn.). A winter visitor in very irregular numbers, occur- ring annually on snipe marshes and swampy moors ; particularly abundant in December, 1867, and in the winter of 1890-1. In one week in 1891 the Penzance taxidermist received seven specimens. Six or seven examples recorded for Scilly, including one on the marshes at Porthellick Bay, St. Mary's. 153. American Bittern. Botaurus lentiginosus (Mont.). An accidental wanderer. A specimen in a very exhausted condition was picked up on Bryher in October, 1903, and is still alive in the aviary at Tresco. 1 54. Little Green Heron. Butorides virescens (Linn.). The only British representative of this wanderer from tropical and temperate America was shot at Penrice, St. Austell, on 27 October, 1889, and exhibited at the Linnean Society in April, 1890, by Sir Charles Sawle.* The specimen is now in the museum of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. 155. White Stork. Ciconia alba, Bechstein. An accidental straggler ; in May, 1 848, an adult bird killed in the Land's End district ; one seen by F. Nicholls on White Marsh, Lostwithiel, November, 1885. 156. Black Stork. Ciconia nigra (Linn.). An accidental autumn visitor ; one killed on Beggar's Island in the Lynher in November, 1831 ; one at Scilly in September, 1887, and another in October, 1890. 157. Glossy Ibis. Plegadis fakinellus (Linn.). An occasional accidental autumn wanderer to the west of the county and Scilly, always in immature plumage; has occurred at Scilly in 1854, 1866 and 1902 ; has also been shot at Paul and at Hayle; and in 1900 was obtained at Saltash, and again at Hayle. 158. Spoonbill. Platalea Itucorodia, Linn. A casual visitor, but by no means rare, appearing for the most part during the autumn migration ; has 1 Tram. Plymouth Intt. 1862-3. 9 Zoologist, 1890, pp. 105, 181. 339
