A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 1 26. Common Buzzard. Buteo vulgaris, Leach. Resident ; breeding now in considerable numbers from Boscastle to Marsland Mouth ; nests also at Boconnoc, and at times on the Bodmin Moors ; did so some years ago in the Land's End district, but lately birds seen there only at intervals and in the winter. A fairly regular passing autumn visitor to Scilly, singly or in pairs. 127. Rough-legged Buzzard. Archebutco lapopus (]. F. Gmelin). Now a rare casual, but formerly a summer migrant ; in the forties Trathen and Geach used to find it breeding between Jamaica Inn and Bolventor. Trathen shot the last sitting female seen in the county at Gonzion Downs, Snaith, and took the eggs, prior to 1860. The only county records since that time are one in the Truro district, date uncertain, and one near Land's End in 1880. 128. Spotted Eagle, jtquila naevia (J. F. Gmelin). An accidental visitor ; one shot in Hawk's Wood, Trebartha Hall, on 4 January, 1 860, by the gamekeeper, H. Couch, aid another in November, 1860, at Carnanton, St. Columb, by Sam Gilbert, an innkeeper at Mawgan. 1 29. Golden Eagle. Aquila cfirysaetus (Linn.). A rare casual visitor ; one immature specimen recorded by Couch ' as the ring-tailed eagle ; one killed on Lanherne Downs, in the parish of Mawgan, on 28 October, 1861. 130. White-tailed Eagle. Haliaetus albicllla (Linn.). A casual visitor of rare occurrence ; an immature bird killed near Kilkhampton in November, 1844 ; an adult seen by Walter Pike, of Camborne, near Tehidy, in the autumn of 1877 ; a young bird killed at Bude Haven in November, 1893, and one seen by W. Waddon Martyn at Moorwinstow, in November, 1901. So far no eagles have been ob- served at Scilly, but there is a tradition of one of this species having been seen near The Seven Stones in 1835. 131. Goshawk. Astur palumbarius (Linn.). Bellamy, in his Natural History of S. Devon,' says that a young bird of this species was shot at Falmouth in 1838. The specimen was seen by Stephen Clogg, of Looe, in 1866, who says ' It is a young bird of good size, but ruined by moth.' 132. Sparrow Hawk. Acclpiter nisus (Linn.). Resident ; still common in the east, but in the west the number of nests has greatly diminished during the past ten years. Generally visits Scilly in the autumn with the starlings, but is never common there. 133. Kite. Mllvus ictinus, Savigny. Bred in the county as late as 1842, but for many years a rare casual visitor ; last county records, Trebartha, I December, 1869 ; Clowance, Cam- borne, 1882; Scilly, 9 September, 1890. 134. Honey Buzzard. Pernus apivorus (Linn.). A casual visitor, in immature plumage, to the west, usually in autumn ; eleven specimens recorded from the county, including one at Scilly, shot by Jenkinson 1 8 October, 1866 ; one at Hobb's Hill, Snaith, about 1860, one at Land's End in the autumn of 1901, one at Carclew 1902, and one at Ladock, near Truro, 21 October, 1904. There is strong presumptive evidence that this bird may have nested in the county as a very young male, with its primaries not full grown, and which, therefore, could not long have left the nest, was sent to Dr. Leach from Cornwall, and is now in the National Collection. 3 135. Greenland Falcon. Falco candlcans, J. F. Gmelin. An accidental straggler ; an adult female killed at Gwavas Grade, near the Lizard, in 1830; an adult male at Port Eliot, St. Germans, in 1834 ; one at the Lizard 24 March, 1884, and one at Scilly 27 March, 1903. A young falcon, either Greenland or Iceland, was shot at St. Just-in-Penwith in the winter of 1902-3. It may have escaped from the Norwegian bark Luna, which foundered with all hands off Pendean. 136. Iceland Falcon. Falco islandicus, ]. F. Gmelin. A rare straggler ; represented by a single adult male, shot at St. Martin's, Scilly, by Dorrien-Smith, 15 January, 1895. 137. Peregrine Falcon. Falco peregrinus, Tunstall. Locally, Blue Hawk, Cliff Hawk. Resident ; breeds at intervals all round the coast and occasionally inland. Down to 1854 at least, a pair bred regularly on Round Island, Scilly ; then they alternated between Round Island and Menavawr, with an occasional pair on Castle Bryher, but they have not bred at Menavawr since 1896. Though a pair still nest at Scilly in most years, the old haunts appear to be quite forsaken. 138. Hobby. Falco subbuteo, Linn. A not infrequent summer casual ; in 1862 nested in the Old Plantation at Trebartha, and probably at Trelask, near Trebartha, in 1869. A specimen was shot by Jenkinson on St. Mary's Moors previous to 1863, and one was found dead near the telegraph wire on St. Mary's on 29 April, 1897. 139. Merlin. Falco aesalon, Tunstall. A winter visitor, as a rule not uncommon on the eastern moors, but in the west of the county some- times not seen for the year. A fairly regular autumn or winter visitor to St. Mary's, Scilly. 140. Red-footed Falcon. Falco vespertmus, Linn. A rare accidental straggler ; one seen by W. P. Cocks at Budock, Falmouth, in May, 1851;' one obtained near Helston in the autumn of 1867. There was also a Cornish specimen in Vingoe's collection. 141. Kestrel. Falco tinnunculus, Linn. Locally, Windhover, Hover Hawk, Criss Hawk. A common resident, both in the county and at Scilly ; breeds freely among the cliffs along the coast, and in smaller numbers inland ; in the east of the county commoner in summer than in winter. 142. Lesser Kestrel. Falco cenchris, Naumann. A rare accidental straggler ; an adult male shot at Scilly, 3 March, 1891. 1 Cornish Fauna, pt. i, p. 10. a Op. cit. p. 198. Mag. Nat. Hist. (1837), 339.
- Naturalist, i, 163.
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