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(379) Reviews. Local Reports (379) REVIEWS. LOCAL REPORTS. [No reference is made in these notices to the Waxwing invasion of 1946-7 or inland occurrences of Curlew-Sandpipers and Little Stints in 1946, as these are covered by special reports in this and the following issues. Cornwall Bird-watching and Preservation Society : Sixteenth Annual Report 1946. The Cornwall Report again contains much useful and interesting informa­ tion, including a considerable amount of breeding data by Col. Ryves and a number of notes on habits, etc., as well as faunistic material. Three breeding pairs of Choughs are recorded, two of these evidently rearing young success­ fully, and it is gratifying to learn, after the onslaught on the Peregrines during the war, that pairs of these birds bred successfully at two sites and reared one and two young respectively. Short-eared Owls bred successfully for the fourth consecutive year and the nesting of a second pair is suspected. A pair of Blue-headed Wagtails bred in Marazion Marsh : coition and, later, a young bird accompanying the parents were seen. Fulmars are known to have bred at five sites on the north coast, including Trevone, where breeding took place in 1944, but not in 1945. Colonies appear to be forming, though breeding was not proved, at, several other points, including Land's End, and a pair probably bred on the west side of the Lizard peninsula, indicating an eastward extension along the south coast of the county. The Kittiwake colony found by Mr, Buxton on Gorregan in the Scillies in 1945 {antea, Vol. xxxix, p. 190) was again occupied, but none bred on Menavawr. Arctic Terns, whose breeding on Annet in 1945 was also recorded by Mr. Buxton (I.e.), apparently bred again in 1946, but there seems to be some conflict of evidence on the subject. Five pairs of Arctics and a young one just able to fly are recorded on Tean in August. One pair of Roseate Terns was identified on Annet. The continued increase of Great Black-backed Gulls (the astonishing number of approximately 100 breeding pairs is recorded on Annet alone) is stated "to threaten seriously-the continued existence of Puffins, and to a lesser extent Shearwater, on the Islands," and it seems a pity some judicious control measures cannot be adopted. Nevertheless, in spite of the destruction on Annet, Manx Shearwaters have "spread considerably to other islands." Of rare birds the most notable are : a male Woodchat at St. Helen's, Scilly, on May 12th, a Wryneck at Tintagel on October 3rd and 8th (the first record for the mainland), a Sooty Shearwater off Newquay on July 18th, and a Kentish Plover on September 4th. The last-mentioned record is presumably sound, as the observer was familiar with the species in Spain and the legs are stated to have been definitely black "and the other marks of identification seen"; all the same it would have strengthened the record to mention what these were. There are quite a number of Spoonbill records from five different areas. These are quoted in a most confusing way without any relation of locality or date, but boil down to: two on Marazion Marsh in April and one in November, one on Camel Estuary in June, three on Ruan Estuary (Fal) in September- October and four to five in December, one near Newquay in October, and one on the Helford River in December. There are also records of a drake Red- crested Pochard on the Ruan River on December 19th, an immature drake Eider off the entrance to the Fal on the same day, a Stone-Curlew on Burnt Island, St. Agnes, Scilly, on May 4th, and a Little Auk seen at close range off Newquay by two different observers on June 4th and July 10th, most exceptional dates. More Black Redstarts were recorded than usual and there are four phalarope records for the autumn. Two, off Par Beach on August 29th and at Looe on November 25th, were definitely identified as Grey Phalaropes, one (Par Marsh, December 2nd) is doubtful and a fourth (Marazion Marsh, September 23rd) had a very black crown and was believed to be a juvenile Red-neck, but the leg-colour suggests the Grey. An Iceland Gull reported near Porth- missen Farm on April 8th appears to have been satisfactorily identified, as 380 BRITISH BIRDS. [VOL. XL. Herring-Gulls were also present for comparison and the particularly long wings were noted. A record of a bird believed tb have been a female or juvenile Black Woodpecker is rightly given in square brackets with full details. Dr. Blair, who saw it and with whom we have corresponded on the subject, is fully convinced of. the correctness of the identification. Admittedly it is difficult to suggest an alternative, but unfortunately, no red was seen on the head (if confined to the back of the crown as in a female or juvenile it would apparently not have been visible in the position in which the bird was viewedj, but there are disconcerting points in the description, such as an apparent downward curvature of the beak, and we think the Editors' attitude of caution is correct. A most unsatisfactory record is the bald statement under Scandinavian Lesser Black-backed Gull that in a very large colony on St. Helens, Scihy, " a considerable proportion appeared to be of this species [sic], and that these were breeding birds." As it is quite incredible that birds of real Scandinavian origin should be breeding in Scilly, presumably all this statement can mean is that there was marked variation in the colony and that a number were unusually dark, but in the absence of any details what might have been an interesting observation is worthless. Of the many notes on bionomics may be mentioned : a record of Rooks repairing a nest of which the bottom fell out, by working underneath and outside it, display flight of Linnet, Chaffinch nesting at least 75 feet up in a pine, Blackbirds feeding on shore, subsong of Wren in nest and young return­ ing to nest after fledging, "injury-feigning" of Kestrel, a February record of Whimbrel, Herring-Gulls nesting on chimney-pots and other sites on buildings and on a flat beach, Guillemots nesting under boulders like Razorbills, and isolated nests of Common Terns on comparatively high ground in Scilly. An incubation-period of 20 days is recorded for the Tree-Creeper (14-15 days is usual, according to The Handbook) and for Goldcrest an incubation period of 14 days and fledging-period of 23 days (cf. "probably about 18-20 days" : Handbook). There are also special observations at a Raven roost in a wood, at which up to about 150 birds were counted, and on nest-construction by House-Martins, and some notes on heronries of the Fal and'Helford esturaries. Report on the Wild Birds of Leicestershire and Rutland, 1946. Edited by G. Harold Hunt. The titles of this report on the cover and title page are different, which should surely be corrected in future years. We have used the second, which is clearly preferable to the cumbersome Leicestershire and Rutland County Report of Wild Birds. And is not even "Wild" superfluous ? The Report is again a good one, nicely produced and with several photo­ graphs, and retains the form and style of earlier ones though appearing under new auspices, as what was originally the Ornithological Sub-section of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society has now been transformed into an entirely separate body, the Leicestershire and Rutland Ornithological Society. We wish the new organization every success. There are numerous notes on details of local distribution, which will all be valuable in working out the county fauna more precisely, and a good many on song-dates and other points. Special attention was paid to Great Crested Grebes during the year. Twenty pairs with nests are recorded and 33 young are known to have been hatched. At the Eye Valley Reservoir, where only three pairs nested, 35-40 non-breeding birds' were present in May, June and July, and as many as 150 on the autumn passage, in the first week of October. Curlew almost certainly bred or attempted to do so near Normanton-on- Soar. At least a hundred pairs of Black-headed Gulls nested in a colony near Ashby-de-la-7.ouch (first recorded in Brit. Birds, Vol. xxxix, p. 224), though few reared young, and details for previous years back to 1943 are given. Corncrakes were more widespread than for a number of years and a record of one calling on March 30th is unusually early. Amongst records of rarer occurrences the following may be noted : a male Blue-headed Wagtail at Swithland on May 18th, unusual numbers of Short- VOL. XL.] REVIEWS. 381 eared Owls (up to 24 were seen 011 the Leicester Sewage Farm in February), a Rough-legged Buzzard clearly identified at Swithland Reservoir on October 24th and one, probably the same, shot (to the discredit of those concerned) at Nanpatan, about five miles away, on the following day; eight Brent Geese at the Eye Valley Reservoir from February 25th to March 3rd (two were thought to be Light-breasted and six Dark-breasted, but it seems unlikely that both races would be included in such a party), remarkable number of Pintail at the same reservoir in January and December (already recorded in our pages), a Shag at Ibstock on September 5th, several records of Red-necked Grebes already published in British Birds, single Bar-tailed Godwits at the Eye Valley Reservoir on March 28th and May 3rd, a Sandwich Tern there on May 27th and two on July 10th, a first winter Little Gull at Belgrave on November 15th, and a Spotted Crake shot near Kilby Bridge on September 21st.
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