Woods in November 1839. The female of this pair was in Mr. Burgess's collection. Mr. Heatley Noble tells us that he saw one at Fawley Court in the winter of 1885 or 1886.
100. White-tailed Eagle. Haliaëtus albicilla(Linn.).
'In 1846 one was caught in a trap near Chequers Court, the seat of Sir Robert Frankland Russell' (A. & H. Matthews, Zoologist, 1849, p. 2594). Yarrell says that one was taken at Fawley Court, but no details are, unfortunately, given to prove the correctness of this statement. About 1885 or 1886 a bird of this species was often seen in the Fawley deer park. It was strictly preserved and remained there most of the winter.
101. Sparrow-Hawk. Accipiter nisus (Linn.).
Common enough in winter and still breeding in many woods where permitted to do so. In the Thames valley on the borders of Bucks and Berks it is called ' blue-hawk.'
102. Goshawk. Astur palumbariui (Linn.).
A male, shot by the Rev. W. Goodall near Dinton Hall on September 10, 1789, is figured in the Dinton Hall MS. work.
103. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny. Milvus milvus (Linn.).
A kite was killed in the sixties at the reservoir near Drayton Beauchamp by Mr. S. W. Jenney and passed into the collection of Sir John Harpur Crewe, of Colne Abbey in Derbyshire (Kennedy, p. 163). Mr. Wolley told Mr. Kennedy ' that while out for a stroll one day many years ago in the fields near Eton a kite flew over his head, and so low as to enable him to determine easily the species by its forked tail ' (Kennedy, p. 1 64). (The specimen killed near Drayton Beauchamp was probably shot within the borders of Hertfordshire, but as it is not mentioned in the History of Herts, and has been quoted as having been obtained in Bucks, the record must here be mentioned.)
104. Honey-Buzzard. Pernis apivorus (Linn.).
Kennedy, p. 1 66, says: ' I am indebted to the Rev. Bryant Burgess for the notice of a honey-buzzard which was captured in 1842 between Chesham and Missenden.' Gardner, Field, 1867, p. 73, reports a 'splendid specimen ' shot near Maidenhead by Captain Robson in July. Mr. Aplin, Zoologist, 1882, p. 116, informs me that on or about September 23, 1882, two honey-buzzards were killed in Shabbington Woods near Brill.
. Peregrine Falcon. Falco peregrinus, Tunstall.
The peregrine is a rare occasional straggler, but perhaps less rare than is generally thought. Kennedy (p. 162) writes: 'Mr. James Britton, of the High Wycombe Natural History Society, informed me of one of these birds which had been recently captured in Brickhill Wood near Woburn.' Mr. Cocks writes, in litt.: 'One was trapped at Fawley lately and another killed there about three years ago; fide Mr. W. Rhodes, December 27, 1879.' The Rev. Hubert D. Astley informs us that a peregrine falcon, a tiercel, was found drowned in the artificial reservoir on Beacon Hill, Chequers Court Park, in autumn 1898. A male, moulting, was shot at Long-Marston on October 4, 1897, by Mr. Chapman, close to the Buckinghamshire border.
106. Hobby. Falco subbuteo, Linn.
This pretty little falcon has bred in Buckinghamshire and, as it is occasionally shot, might possibly do so again if it was left unmolested by the gamekeepers. Clark Kennedy wrote (p. 69): ' A pair of these falcons built their nest in a wood not far from Datchet in the summer of 1861. Although the old birds escaped molestation, four young ones were shot at Thorney almost as soon as they had learnt to fly. I saw two of these at Datchet in the collection of Mr. Ferryman, to whom they had been presented.' An adult pair were shot by Mr. Chapman on August 14 and 1 6, 1894, near Long-Marston, close to the Buckinghamshire border.
107. Merlin. Falco æsalon, Tunstall.
An occasional and probably regular winter visitor. A beautiful adult was shot by Mr. Chapman on the Bucks border near LongMarston, November 14, 1895.
108. Red-footed Falcon. Falco vespertinus, Linn.
Clark Kennedy (p. 162) writes: 'The inspector of the Eton police force an intelligent man who has a taste for natural history informed me that an orange-legged hobby was shot by the under-keeper on Sir Henry Vernon's estate at Steeple Claydon near Buckingham in January 1858. The date is an unusual one at which to find the species here, but my informant is acquainted with the bird and is not likely to have been mistaken.'
109. Kestrel. Falco tinnunculus, Linn.
Common all over the county and nesting regularly, though in small numbers. Many are killed by gamekeepers in spite of remonstrances.
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