BIRDS of an adult male which was shot and winged at Swallowfield on October 2, 1899, kept alive till March, 1900, when it died, and is now preserved in the Reading Museum. 101. Hen-Harrier. Circus cyaneus (Linn.). This is another hawk which is now only a rare visitor not very hospitably received. One was trapped in the Royal Forest at Windsor in 1855 ; another, a female, shot in the same forest in 1859 or X 86o (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 4). Mr. Herbert records one in his collection trapped near Faringdon (Newbury District Field Club, 1870-1, p. 95); and a young bird shot near Newbury in 1885 was in Dr. Palmer's possession. Mr. G. T. Phillips informs me (in lit.) of the following occurrences of this bird which have come under his notice : One shot in Nash Grove near Wokingham in 1 86-, and now in the possession of Mrs. Lane of that town ; a pair observed at Earley by Mr. W. Holland in the spring of 1887 ; and a pair flushed from a piece of ground covered with heather and young Scotch fir in Septem- ber, 1886, near Nine-Mile Ride. 102. Buzzard. Buteo vulgaris, Leach. This bird once bred in the wooded parts of Berkshire, and was resident, for writing in 1 8 1 4 Dr. Lamb speaks of it as 'very common' ('Ornith. Bercheria'). By the 'sixties' it must have become rare, as Clark Kennedy (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 164-5) on ty mentions three instances of its capture that came under his notice : a pair killed by a keeper in Windsor Great Park in the summer of 1857, ar >d a fine male shot in a wood near Sunninghill in 1866. In the Zoologist, 1876, p. 4829, Mr. A. H. Cocks mentions one caught near Wantage in June, 1853, which was kept alive for some time. Mr. Herbert mentions one in his collection killed near Newbury, 1 866 (Newbury District Field Club, 1870-1, p. 95) ; another was shot at Buckle- bury in 1880, which was seen in the flesh by Mr. H. M. Wallis ; and Lord Abingdon tells me (in lit.) one was trapped at Wytham Abbey last year, 1901. 103. Rough-legged Buzzard. Buteo lagopus (Gmelin). A rare winter visitor. C. E. Stubbs saw one that had been killed at Culham Court many years ago ; another was shot at Ham Spray on December 7, 1876, now in the possession of Mr. Couling of that village. Mr. Wallis tells me that on October 25, 1895, at 9 a.m., a very white undersided bird passed over Reading low down going east, and I have seen one a very short distance over our boundary in Bucks. [Golden Eagle. Aquila cbrysaftus (Linn.). Dr. Bowdler Sharpe was told by Mr. Briggs of a golden eagle trapped at Billingbear ; it was seen previously by that keen observer (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 155). Another is said to have been killed at Shottesbrook in 1794 ('Ornith. Bercheria') ; but a specimen, often cited as a ' golden ' eagle, from Littlecote near Hungerford, was really an immature white-tailed eagle in the tawny-brown plum- age which has led to so many erroneous identifi- cations. Nearly all the so-called 'golden' eagles taken in the south or centre of England have turned out to be simply young white- tails, and at this distance of time it is not possible to prove the identity of the specimens quoted.] 104. White-tailed Eagle. Haliaftus albicilla (Linn.). This migratory eagle has been obtained on several occasions. The first specimen of which we have record was shot on Wan- tage Downs in 1793 ('Ornith. Bercheria'). A fine specimen is preserved in the Eton Museum which was killed near Windsor on February 3, 1851, and presented by H.R.H. the Prince Consort on December 12, 1856. Another was shot in Windsor Park, and is mentioned by Buckland (Curi- osities of Nat. Hist. i. 99) ; a fourth, in immature plumage, was shot by one of the royal keepers in Windsor Great Park during the summer of 1865; and about the same time another was wounded in the park and kept alive by Mr. Cole at Sandpit Gate (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 155-8). In 1887 another was shot at Rapley Lake, Bagshot, by one of the keepers, and is or was in the collection of Mr. Hart of Christchurch, Hants (Long in lit. to Bucknill). [Goshawk. Astur palumbarius (Linn.). One was shot at Highclere by Mr. Maskell, a few years prior to 1886 (Palmer, ' Birds of Newbury and District"). Highclere is just over our boundary.] 105. Sparrow-Hawk. Accipiter nisus (Linn.). Fairly common and resident, breeding in the wooded districts, where it shows distinct par- tiality for larch trees. Although these birds hold the worst of records from a game-pre- server's point of view, yet they are not all bad. A pair nested and reared their young within 300 yards of our pheasant field, flying over it daily, and often taking young sparrows and other small birds, but never once did they touch a pheasant, consequently they were not destroyed. 153 20
