A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE March, 1901, a considerable flock visited a bare upland meadow close to my house and remained several days before taking their departure at the end of the month. They suffer terribly if snow lies on the ground for any length of time, and I have found num- bers dead in rabbit holes in which they had taken refuge. 4. Fieldfare. Turdus pilaris, Linn. Locally, Felt, Blue Felt, Pigeon Felt. Regular and common winter migrants, ar- riving here about the end of September and taking their departure generally in April, but in late springs some remain until May. I once heard one singing, on the wing, in March. 5. Blackbird. Turdus merula, Linn. Generally distributed throughout the county, breeding abundantly in the wooded districts from March to June. A nest taken near here contained the rather unusual number of six eggs, unspotted blue in colour. 6. Ring-Ouzel. Turdus torquatus, Linn. A visitor during both spring and autumn migration, though never in any numbers. Mr. Phillips informs me that a pair com- menced a nest at Farley Hill in April, 1899, but deserted through being too closely watched, and I cannot hear that young have ever been reared in the county. The same gentleman informs me that a ring-ouzel was killed at Winkfield in January, 1894 a somewhat unusual date ; and I have notes of many others taken in Berks. 7. Wheatear. Saxicola aenanthe (Linn.). Locally, White-tail, Fallow-chat. A regular spring migrant, visiting us to- wards the end of March or beginning of April and returning in September. A few pairs breed on many of the open commons. Mr. H. M. Wallis has seen young near Unhill Wood, and I have reason to believe they nest on Maidenhead thicket. 8. Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.). A spring migrant. I have met with this bird on arrival at the end of April in bare upland meadows far from its ultimate breed- ing place, and again in August I have taken it close to the river. Its nest may be found on many of the open heaths, but as far as I know never in numbers. 9. Stonechat. Pratincola rubicola (Linn.). Resident in many parts of the county, but much less numerous in winter. A nest was found near Eton in a furze bush 4 feet from the ground, an unusual situation (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 21). 10. Redstart. Ruticilla phcenicurus (Linn.). Locally, Firetail. A spring migrant, but unaccountably local in its distribution. In thirty years I have only met with three examples in this corner of the county. One, a male, I saw twenty years ago ; and a pair nested and reared their young in a box placed in a mulberry tree for tits just in front of the house at Park Place in June, 1895. When living at Maidenhead I never saw the bird, though it has been observed at Cookham ; in the Reading district and near Wokingham it is rarely observed, neither is it mentioned in the Wellington College list. Mr. Cornish informs me it is common enough in the meadow lands near Challow, but scarce at Lockinge five miles off. Mr. Dewe informs me it is common near Faringdon, it is mentioned in the Radley list as numerous in that district, and Mr. Warner says it is of frequent occurrence near Abing- don ; while just over our boundary in Bucks and Oxon, not four miles from here, it breeds regularly. Mr. Wallis tells me he has heard a cock bird singing at Englefield Park, also in the Oak Avenue at Bucklebury ; at Kintbury he has observed it on migration, and thinks it breeds near Mortimer on the Hants border. 1 1 . Black Redstart. Ruticilla titys (Scopoli). A very rare straggler. One is preserved in the Eton College Museum, but the evidence of its being a Berks-killed specimen is not conclusive. That reliable ornithologist the late Mr. Briggs observed one at Formosa during a snowstorm in 1861 (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 1 70). 12. Redbreast. Erithacus rubecula (Linn.). Locally, Robin, Bobby. Many are resident, but a partial migration takes place in autumn, and I believe the young are driven off by their parents. Al- though breeding here abundantly they never seem to increase ; about the same number may be seen year after year. 13. Nightingale. Daulias luscinia (Linn.). A regular spring migrant in varying num- bers. In 1900 it was extremely plentiful, and more nests were seen than I ever remem- ber before; the increase or decrease in the numbers noticed in certain localities is often to be accounted for by the alteration of the covert necessary to their habits either by human or natural agency. When the under- growth becomes thick nightingales may be quite common ; when it is cut down the birds entirely disappear and are not seen for some years in fact until the undergrowth has 142
