26. Hedge - Sparrow. Accentor madularis' (Linn.).
One of the commonest birds everywhere. A perfectly white hedge-sparrow was taken sitting on eggs, in April 1848, near Drayton Beauchamp (H. H. Crewe, Zoologist, 1848, p. 2143). A very pale example was caught at Wingrave near Aylesbury on June 2O, 1900, and is now in the Tring Museum. It is a young bird of the year. It is buff with brownish centres to the feathers above and on the breast and throat, the tail is creamy white, quills white with reddish buff outer edges, abdomen white.
[Dipper. Cinclus aquaticus, Bechstein.
The British dipper differing somewhat from the continental forms or has correctly been separated by Tschusi under the name of Cinelus cinclus britannicus. Buckinghamshire not possessing rapidly-running mountain streams, which are the dipper's home, it cannot be of regular occurrence, and we have no recent records of it. In former times Yarrell stated that it had occurred on the Colne, near Wraysbury, which is on the borders of Buckinghamshire. According to Gould it has been obtained on the Chess, and the Rev. H. Harpur Crewe said that he had observed one on the canal near Drayton Beauchamp (Clark Kennedy, p. 170).]
27. British Long-tailed Titmouse. Acredula rosea (Blyth).
(In the History of Herts, ' Birds,' p. 199, the British long-tailed tit is called A, caudata. It is true that Mr. Saunders on p. 5 of his list, from which is taken the nomenclature in the Victoria History of the Counties, puts the ' white headed long-tailed tit ' and the ' British longtailed tit ' in brackets, as if their distinctness was questionable, but they are perfectly distinct species, and the British form, the only one nesting in the British Islands, must not be called A. caudata)
A. rosea, occasionally called ' bottle-tit,' is not a rare bird. It breeds in woods, parks, gardens and thick old hedges. In winter it goes about in small flocks. The continental species, A. caudata, has not to our knowledge been observed in Buckinghamshire.
28. Great Titmouse. Parus major, Linn. The commonest of our tits in the county, and to be met with all the year round.
29. Coal-Tit. Parus ater, Linn. (The more correct name of the British coaltit is P. ater britannicus. The British coal-tit is easily distinguishable by its brownish, not pure bluish-grey, upperside.)
Not rare, but much more conspicuous in winter, when it generally goes about in flocks, and rambles about over a good deal of ground in search of food, while in the breeding season it does not move far from its home. The suggestion of Mr. Grossman, that 'we have a large immigration ' in winter is not borne out by our observations, as we have never yet seen a specimen of the continental form (true P. ater) from Buckinghamshire or Hertfordshire.
30. Marsh-Tit. Parus palustris, Linn.
(The more correct name of the British marsh-tit is P. palustris dresseri.)
Also by no means rare, though not nesting in very great numbers. (We have no record of the occurrence of the rarer ' willow tit,' which, though a distinct species, is not mentioned in the recent books of Messrs. Saunders and Harting.)
31. Blue Tit. Parus cæruleus, Linn.
Common. Next to the great titmouse, apparently the commonest of our tits in the county.
32 . Nuthatch. Sitta cæsia, Wolf.
(The correct name of the British nuthatch, in our opinion, is S. europæa britannica, Hartert. The central European form, which should be called S. europæa cæssia, has a much more richly coloured underside.)
Not uncommon in all well timbered parts woods, parks and larger gardens; but curiously enough many people are not very familiar with this bird. Mr. Grossman found it particularly common in Burnham Beeches.
33. Wren. Troglodytes parvulus, Koch.
(We would prefer the name Olbiorchilus troglodytes, Linnæus. It is in our opinion a pity to set Linnæus' names aside. The wren is here between the nuthatch and treecreeper in our opinion in an unsystematic position.)
The wren is a very common bird all over the county.
34. Tree-Creeper. Certhia familiaris, Linn.
(The more correct name of the British treecreeper, which is easily distinguishable from the typical Swedish C. familiaris, is C. familiaris britannica, Stejn. Cf. Novit. Zool. 1897, pp. 136-40.)
Not at all rare, but often overlooked, being rather inconspicuous and silent. Its pretty, but not at all very loud song is often heard
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