A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE 147. Turtle-Dove. Turtur communis, Selby. This is now a common summer visitor to Worcestershire, and distributed all over the county, but seems to prefer the alluvial tracts bordering the streams to the clay districts. Half a century ago it was by no means common, and was not mentioned as a Wor- cestershire bird by Hastings in 1834, and several years subsequently to the date the author remembers one being shot in the vale of the Avon, which was regarded as a great curiosity. It was found by a sportsman in a stubble field, and as the tail was spread when the bird rose, the white band at the end was conspicuous, and in default of a more accurate name the bird was designated a ' ringtail.' The increase in numbers took place gradually, and not by the influx of flights, or by a sudden addition to the number of pairs. 148. Pallas's Sand-Grouse. Syrrhaptes para- doxus (Pallas). Mr. Willis Bund inserts this bird in the Worcestershire list from one, and one only, having been seen by the present writer and his brother at Littleton, on May i8th, 1888. I transcribe the note I made at the time, verbatim : ' A sand-grouse flew past my brother, W. B. Tomes, and myself, as we were walking along the line of the Liassic escarpment, near North Littleton, and so near that we could readily determine the sex to be a male. The flight was remarkably straight and swift, and in a south-easterly direction, directly towards the Cotteswold Hills. The pointed tail was very conspicuous, and a short, sharp monosyllabic note, something resembling " check, check, check " was uttered the whole time the bird was within hearing.' There does not appear to be any other notice of the appearance of the sand-grouse in Worcester- shire. 149. Black Grouse. Tetrao tetrix, Linn. ' Wyre Forest, near Bewdley,' and * is also found on the Clee Hills, and in the woods upon the banks of the Teme, near Eastham ' {Hastings, p. 64). It is still found in some numbers in the Forest. 1 50. Red Grouse. Lagopus scoticus (Latham). ' Inhabits Wyre Forest, near Bewdley ' [Hastings, p. 63). This is most doubtful. The Brown Clee in Shropshire is the nearest place where it regularly occurs, but an occa- sional straggler may be found in the north- west corner of the county. 151. Pheasant. Phasianus cokhicus, Linn. Plentiful in preserves but its continued existence as a Worcestershire bird depends mainly upon its preservation for sporting pur 152. Partridge. Perdix cinerea, 'L?iX.?im. Is plentiful or the reverse according as it is protected. 153. Red-legged Partridge. Caccahis rufa (Linn.). The same may be said of this as the two preceding birds. So far as I have been able to observe the present species continues to hold about the same numerical proportion to the common partridge as for some years past. It is more common in the south than in the other parts of the county, but it is nowhere very numerous. 154. Quail. Coturnix communis, Bonnaterre. Hastings says that a few quails are met with at Spring Hill. It may however be said to occur over the greater part of the county, though perhaps irregularly. It is not how- ever known except as a summer visitor ; in- stances of its having bred in Worcestershire are recorded. The writer has met with a nest at Littleton, and Lees mentions it as breeding at Malvern. 155. Corn-Crake or Landrail. Crex praten- sis, Bechstein. The abundance, or the reverse, of this bird is easily determined by its loud raking note, which there is no danger of confounding with that of any other bird. There can be no doubt that it is much less numerous than formerly, for where one might at one time have found several, one does not now hear more than one or two, or perhaps none at all. The people in the villages where the Cotteswolds break into the vale of the Severn and Avon, believe that as they hear the corn-crake on the hill or in the vale, so they will have wet or dry weather : if on the hills, wet ; if in the vale, dry. In the disastrous season of 1879, when the lowlands were in a more or less condition of flood through the whole summer, the corn- crakes were heard only on the higher ground. 156. Spotted Crake. Porzana maruetta (Leach). This can hardly be mentioned as being rare, though it is only occasionally met with, and generally in the summer. Mr. Willis Bund speaks of it as becoming scarcer. Lees mentions it as occasionally appearing around Malvern. I have seen and examined several specimens which were killed in the county, and one which was shot by the side of the Avon, near to the county boundary, at the very unusual time of mid-winter. 164
