text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/145

Rh oaks. Rev. J. Greene says that the pupa is scarce at the roots of these trees and rather apt to dry up

Biston betularius, Linn. Chesham, Buckingham, Halton, High Wycombe ; pupa at elm, much more commonly

Phigalia pilosaria, Schiff.; pedaria, St.C. Halton, Chesham, Buckingham ; on tree trunks in early spring

Nyssia hispidaria, Schiff. Larvae found at Chesham and reared by Dr. Churchill

Cleora lichenaria, Schiff. Generally distributed in woods, and common where lichens are plentiful

Tephrosia consonaria, Hb. Halton, Marlow, Black Park, the Chilterns, Rev. J. Greene says : 'In immense profusion on the trunks of beech trees, in Beech Wood, at the beginning of May. The insect emerges from the pupa about two in the afternoon, at which time I have seen them by dozens drying their wings on the trunks of the trees. This is one of the few species which I have taken in the pupa state at the roots of trees in woods. The pupa should be looked for under moss on the beech ; it here appears to be exclusively attached to that tree.' This is singular since in other places it is to be found more frequently upon fir trees, sitting rather high up

Opinions differ as to whether these form two species or one. Both forms are widely distributed in woods, the former appearing earlier in the spring than the latter. Rev. J. Greene says that both abounded in Beech Wood

extersaria, Hb. ; luridata, St.C. Black Park, Buckingham, Chalfont St. Peter ; rather local

punctularia, Schiff. This usually common species seems only to have been taken at Chalfont St. Peter

Boarmia roboraria, Schiff. This noble species has been taken at Black Park and also by the Rev. C. F. Thornewill in Whittlebury Forest near Leckhampstead

consortaria, Fab. Found near Chesham by Dr. Churchill

repandata, Linn. Everywhere common in woods and hedges

rhomboidaria, Schiff. ; gemmaria, St.C. Generally distributed ; most frequent in gardens and shrubberies in the outskirts of towns

abietaria, Schiff. Halton ; a few beaten out of fir trees in the Beech Wood ; also found at Black Park

Hemerophila abruptaria, Thunb. Chalfont St. Peter, Halton, Chesham, High Wycombe ; about gardens among privet

Hibernia aurantiaria, Hb. Chesham, Halton. The Rev. J. Greene found pupæae in plenty at elms

defoliaria, Linn. Halton, High Wycombe, Chesham ; pupæ at the same

progemmaria, Hb. ; marginaria, St.C. Common everywhere

leucophaearia, Schiff. Halton, Chesham ; common in woods in early spring

rupicapraria, Schiff. Chalfont St. Peter, Halton, Chesham ; on hedges in January

Anisopteryx aescularia, Schiff. Halton, Buckingham, Chesham, High Wycombe ; frequently to be seen on gas lamps at night

Abraxas grossulariata, Linn. Everywhere abundant in gardens, the larva feeding on the currant trees ; also in lanes on blackthorn. Mr. W. Slade says that he has here seen hundreds of the larva; feeding on osier

ulmata, Fab. ; sylvata, St.C. Chesham ; found by Mr. R. South at Chalfont Road ; the larva feeds on small trees of wych elm in beech woods

Ligdia adustata, Schiff. Halton, Chalfont St. Peter, Chesham, Leckhampstead ; larva on spindle

Lomaspilis marginata, Linn. Generally distributed in woods and among sallows in damp places ; in this county rather constant in its markings

Geometra papilionaria, Linn. Chesham, Chalfont Road, Halton, borders of Whittlebury Forest ; about birch and alder

lodis vernaria, Linn. Black Park, Halton, Chesham ; among Clematis vitalba

lactæaria, Linn. Generally distributed in woods

Phorodesma bajularia, Schiff. ; pustulata, St.C. Black Park, borders of Whittlebury Forest ; among oak ; the larva loads itself with particles of dead bracts of oak till it looks like a mere web-tangle of rubbish, and is constantly overlooked for that reason

Hemithea thymiaria, Linn. ; strigata, St.C. Generally distributed in woods and usually common

Ephyra punctaria, Linn. Chalfont St. Peter, Chesham ; among oak

trilinearia, Bkh.; linearia, St.C. Chesham, Halton, Black Park, the Chiltern district ; common among beech omicronaria, Schiff.; annulata, St.C. Halton, scarce ; Chesham, Leckhampstead, among maple

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/145


text:
Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Penn, William

In the 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, William Penn may refer to:

 * His son,.
 * His son,.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/146

Rh Ephyra pendularia, Linn. Black Park, among birch

Acidalia scutulata, Schiff. ; dimidiata, St.C. Generally distributed and common

bisetata, Bkh. Common everywhere in woods and hedges

trigeminata, Haw. The Rev. J. S. St. John records the capture of two specimens at Chalfont St. Peter in 1886

holosericata, Dup. Also taken at Chalfont St. Peter and recorded at the same time

dilutaria, Hb. ; interjectaria, Bdv. ; osseata, St.M. Chalfont St. Peter ; common at Halton incanaria, Hb. ; virgularia, St.C. Halton, Chesham, Chalfont St. Peter ; common in gardens

ornata, Scop. This very pretty chalk frequenting species was found rather commonly on Long Down Hill by Dr. Churchill

remutata, Hb. Generally common in woods

aversata, Linn. Generally distributed ; often in gardens

inornata, Haw. Found on the borders of Whittlebury Forest by the Rev. C. F. Thornewill

Timandra imitaria, Hb. Generally distributed and not uncommon, frequenting hedges

Bradyepetes amataria, Linn. Chalfont St. Peter, Halton, Buckingham, Leckhampstead ; in lanes and hedges

Ania emarginata, Linn. Recorded at Halton, by Mr. H. T. Stainton

Melanippe subtristata, Haw.; sociata, St.C. Generally abundant in woods and hedges

rivata, Hb. Taken by Mr. South near Chalfont Road Melanthia rubiginata, Schiff. ; bicolorata, St.C. Generally distributed in woods among alder

ocellata, Linn. In all woods, but not abundantly

albicillata, Linn. Black Park, Chalfont St. Peter, Chalfont Road, Chesham, Halton, borders of Whittlebury Forest ; this most delicately beautiful species is widely distributed in woods

procellata, Schiff. Black Park, formerly at Chesham ; among Clematis vitalba

unangulata, Haw. Chesham, Chalfont St. Peter, Chalfont Road ; not very common

Anticlea rubidata, Schiff. Taken near Aylesbury by the Rev. Joseph Greene.

badiata, Schiff. Buckingham, Chalfont St. Peter, Chesham, Halton ; among wild rose

Anticlea derivata, Schiff. Chesham, Buckingham, Chalfont St. Peter ; also among wild rose

Coremia montanata, Schiff. Generally common, abundant in woods

fluctuata, Linn. Everywhere common in gardens

propugnata, Schiff. ; designata, St.C. Chesham, Chalfont St. Peter ; frequent in woods

ferrugata, Linn. Everywhere abundant in lanes, hedges, and the borders of woods unidentaria, Haw. Generally distributed in lanes, woods and hedges, but not everywhere common

quadrifasciaria, Linn. Chesham, Black Park, Chalfont Road ; very local

pectinitaria, Fuessl. ; viridaria, St.C. Common in all woods and wooded heaths

didymata, Linn. Abundant on heaths, hillsides, and the margins of woods

multistrigaria, Haw. Chesham, Black Park

Larentia olivata, Schiff. Halton, common ; Chesham, Chalfont Road ; Buckingham, scarce Asthena luteata, Schiff. Halton, Chesham, Chalfont St. Peter, Chalfont Road, Leckhampstead, Amersham ; about maple bushes, especially those in hedges

candidata, Schiff. Generally distributed in woods

sylvata, Schiff. ; testaceata, St.C. Taken by Mr. South at Chalfont Road

blomeri, Curt. Marlow, Chesham, Chalfont Road, Rickmansworth ; fond of sitting on the trunks of beech trees during the day

Minoa euphorbiata, Schiff. ; murinata, St.C. Halton, Marlow, not common ; among wood spurge

Emmelesia affinitata, Steph. Chalfont St. Peter, Chalfont Road ; among Lychnis dioica

alchemillata, Linn. Taken some years ago at Chesham by Dr. Churchill

albulata, Schiff. Found at Leckhampstead by the Rev. C. F. Thornewill. Apparently not noticed elsewhere in the county, though it must surely be present in meadows among yellow-rattle

decolorata, Hb. Buckingham, Chalfont Road, common at Halton ; among Lychnis vespertina

Cidaria psittacata, Schiff. ; siterata, St.C. Halton, scarce ; comes to the flowers of ivy in autumn

miata, Linn. Buckingham, Halton, Chesham ; also attracted by ivy bloom, and by that of sallows in the spring

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/146


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/191

Rh adjoins. These birds could always be seen flying thence over the river, and I have shot specimens, but never since I began collecting, and for some years now shooting has been stopped on the river, and I cannot say whether they are still there, but see no reason to the contrary ' (Heneage Cocks in litt.). It is to be considered whether these pigeons are not feral individuals, which very often revert to a wild state and closely resemble wild Columba tivia, or descendants of such.

146. Turtle-Dove. Turtur communis, Selby. Turtur turtur (Linn.).

A common summer bird, not arriving before the last week in April or early in May.

147. Pallas's Sand-Grouse. Syrrhaptes paradoxus (Pallas).

' During the visitation of this species in 1888 my grandfather saw a flock of birds at Farnham Royal, which from his description were undoubtedly of these birds. I was un- fortunately unable to see them on going to the place about an hour afterwards ' (A. F. Grossman in litt.). W. Rothschild saw three flying overhead when shooting near Halton in 1896.

148. Capercaillie. Tetrao urogallus, Linn.

A pair was shot in autumn 1855 at Burn- ham Beeches (Kennedy, p. 182). The author believes that they ' must have escaped from confinement.'

149. Black Grouse. Tetrao tetrix, Linn.

In the Field (xxii. 297, September 19, 1863) we find the following interesting note : ' Lord Curzon presents his compliments to the editor of the Field, and begs to inform him that his keeper shot a very fine black- cock in the woods near Penn House, Amer- sham. Lord C. is quite unaware from whence this bird could have come ; he has been seen during the summer, and has been sent to the Earl Howe, at Gopsall near Atherstone.' In 1815, according to Kennedy (p. 56), speci- mens were turned out in Berkshire, and the author says that the last of these which came under his notice was one of which the Rev. Bryant Burgess told him that it was killed on Hyde Heath near Chesham in 1852. Possibly this was also a descendant of the stock turned out in Berkshire in 1815 (?).

150. Pheasant. Phasianus colckicus, Linn.

(The above name is the one adopted by Mr. Saunders, but the ordinary English pheasant or to-day being a cross between P. colchicus and P. torquatus, more resembling the latter, inas- much as almost every specimen has a wide white ring, the above name is somewhat illogical.)

Large numbers are reared in many places, and many are breeding wild in the woods, though of course pheasants are introduced birds. No other species has established it- self, though Japanese and other species have often been reared and crossed with English pheasants.

[The Californian quail has been turned out in various places, but, unlike the pheasant, has not become an established species at all. In 1867 they were breeding successfully near Great Marlow, and in 1897 a specimen was shot near Newport Pagnell.]

151. Partridge. Perdix cinerea, Latham.

(Perdix perdix is the name we would pre- fer for the partridge.)

Common, except in wooded parts.

152. Red-legged Partridge. Caccabis rufa (Linn.).

Also fairly numerous, though somewhat local, being fonder of dry ground than of low meadows. It is now as much a wild bird as the grey partridge, though originally, but more than a century ago, introduced.

153. Quail. Coturnix communis, Bonnaterre. The quail is now decidedly rare. Wher- ever it is anything like common its delightful ' wet-my-lips ' is heard in the fields in spring and summer, and it is flushed in September when walking up partridges. Now however one may walk through the fields in autumn for days without coming across a single quail, and ride or walk through the county for many miles in spring without hearing the call. Last year E. Hartert was cycling over the greater part of the county and heard the quail only twice near Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard. Until three years ago we heard its call near Marsworth in June, but even then it was a rare bird. Even in 1868 Clark Kennedy called it 'not common.' He then told us that ' the majority of quails which were ob- tained were shot either in May or September.' Now nobody will be brutal enough to shoot quail in May ; such habits must have de- creased their number, but nevertheless the high farming and drainage have probably done more than persecution to make the quail so rare.

154. Land-Rail or Corn-Crake. Crex pratensis, Bechstein. Crex crex (Linn.).

The land-rail is nowhere numerous, but we have heard its unmistakable call-note in spring and summer near Marsworth, Chesham, Ayles.

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/191


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/192

Rh bury, Mentmore, Halton, Castlethorpe, Newport Pagnell, Buckingham, Bletchley, Fenny Stratford, or we have seen eggs taken near some of these places. In September we generally flush a few single birds out of the fields when shooting partridges.

155. Spotted Crake. Porzana maruetta (Leach).

(Porzana porzana would be the more correct name.)

The spotted crake is a not uncommon, though more or less unobserved, migrant, especially in autumn, and a number of captures are reported from the Thames and places where there is bog, swamp and reed, but no instance of its breeding in the county is known.

156. Water-Rail. Rallus aquaticus, Linn.

We ourselves have seen and shot waterrails in autumn and winter, and received some in spring as late as April 13, but probably it also breeds in various places. According to Clark Kennedy nests have been taken near Eton.

157. Moor-Hen. Gallinula chloropus (Linn.).

Very common, even on small ponds.

158. Coot. Fulica atra, Linn. Very common on all larger waters. On the Halton (Weston Turville) and Tring reservoirs they breed plentifully, and in winter huge numbers assemble, when they afford some sport for the gun. On the Thames they are comparatively rare, being never very fond of flowing rivers, but more of stagnant lakes and reservoirs or backwaters of rivers.

159. Thick-knee or Stone-Curlew. Œdicnemus scolopax (S. G. Gmelin).

(This bird should, in our opinion, be called Œdicnemus aedicnemus [Linn.].)

This bird is one of the past. Formerly it was by no means uncommon on the chalk hills near Ivinghoe and Drayton Beauchamp (see Kennedy, p. 97) and north of the Thames, near Aylesbury, Buckingham and Slapton, and in other places. In 1868, the Rev. H. Harpur Crewe told Clark Kennedy that ' it may still be often heard whistling overhead on a still summer's night,' but now we have not even trustworthy evidence that it has been heard for years past, and it is not now nesting anywhere in the county as far as we know.

160. Dotterel. Eudromias morinellus (Linn.).

Judging from all accounts the dotterel was once a bird of regular appearance in the spring and autumn migration time, but now it is doubtless very rare, and its visits are irregular and far between. As long ago as 1868 Clark Kennedy considered it evidently a regular visitor. He says that a few were shot in a field near Burnham in the spring of 1857, that it has been procured in the neighbourhood of Aylesbury and Drayton Beauchamp. The Rev. H. Harpur Crewe (Kennedy, p. 141) had an adult male of this species which was killed by a keeper of Earl Brownlow's on August 14, 1862, in a cornfield near Ivinghoe. In 1856 and 1858 several specimens were killed by Mr. Henry Taylor on the banks of the river near Windsor.

161. Ringed Plover. Ægialitis hiaticula (Linn.).

A regular visitor during the autumnal migration, very much rarer in spring, on all larger waters.

162. Golden Plover. Charadrius pluvialis, Linn.

A regular visitor in autumn, but flocks are often seen throughout the winter. Much rarer now than, judging from all accounts, it was in former times.

163. Grey Plover. Squatarola helvetica(Linn.).

On November 25, 1819, one was obtained near Dinton Hall. We have no further record of this bird in Buckinghamshire, but it is bound to occur occasionally, as E. Hartert shot one on December 12, 1897, on the Wilstone reservoir, not more than a few hundred yards from the Bucks borders.

164. Lapwing or Peewit. Vanellus vulgaris, Bechstein.

V. vanellus (Linn.).

Common throughout the year, breeding in many places, sometimes on quite dry ground. The Rev. H. D. Astley tells us that a few pairs used to breed on Coombe Hill above Wendover, but that they are there no longer. In winter they assemble sometimes in enormous flocks. Hard frost and deep snow are disastrous to the lapwing, many dying then of starvation.

165. Oyster-Catcher. Hæmatopm ostralegus, Linn.

According to Clark Kennedy (p. 184) individuals have occasionally been seen and shot on the Thames. As this is a coast bird we cannot look forward to many visits of it in Buckinghamshire.

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/192


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/193

Rh 166. Grey Phalarope. Phalaropus fulicarius (Linn.).

Of rare occurrence in autumn and winter. Mr. Clark Kennedy (p. 198) wrote: 'Out of the flocks which visited England in the autumn of 1866, a single specimen only seems to have occurred in Buckinghamshire. This bird was seen on the canal at Halton.' No doubt the bird will occasionally occur on larger waters, as specimens were obtained on the Tring reservoirs in 1891 and near Tring in 1899, all close to the Bucks boundary.

[Red-necked Phalarope. Phalaropus hyperboreus (Linn.).

This also might occur occasionally in Buckinghamshire, as one was obtained at the Tring reservoirs in October 1885. (This is recorded by the late John Littleboy as P. fulicarius through an error of E. Roth- schild's.)]

167. Woodcock. Scolopax rusticula, Linn.

The woodcock is a regular migrant in the county, though nowhere numerous. It breeds occasionally, though we have no records of recent date. The eggs have been taken near Beaconsfield, and Mr. Kennedy procured an example from a wood near Burnham in the spring of 1867. A few pairs have been known to breed in the ' sixties ' near Stoke and at New Woods, Burnham, as well as near Brickhill (Kennedy, p. 115). It nested in the woods above Drayton Lodge about fifteen years ago, but the eggs were deserted, because one of the parents was shot by a neighbour- ing keeper (W. R.).

168. Great Snipe. Gallinago major (Gmelin).

Must certainly occur now and then as a migrant, though we have no records for Buckinghamshire. The statement in the Birds of Hertfordshire, p. 213, that an albino variety has been obtained near Tring in 1880 is erroneous, this variety being that of a com- mon snipe.

169. Common Snipe. Gallinago cælestis, Frenzel.

Gallinago gallnago (Linn.). Common in suitable places, i.e. wherever there is marshy ground. According to Mr. Kennedy nests have been found on East Burnham Common. Mr. Alan F. Grossman told us that he saw and heard this bird drum- ming on Farnham Common, and that he was told that it was to be found there every year. E. Hartert also heard it there last spring. In the severe winter of 1867 snipes were reported as so tame that they ventured on to the doorsteps near Eton, and flew only a few yards when disturbed. During con- tinuous hard weather many die of starvation.

170. Jack Snipe. Gallinago gallinula (Linn.).

Certainly much less frequent than the common snipe, but probably occurring wher- ever that is found, though generally less partial to swampy ground and not seldom flushed from meadows and fields. Kennedy mentions Chesham, Missenden and Slapton as localities where it had occurred. Near Tring, close to the Buckinghamshire borders, it occurs sparingly every year, and there are several specimens from the reservoirs and the ' flats ' in the museum.

171. Wilson's Snipe. Gallinago wilsoni, Temminck.

(The proper name is G. delicata, Ord. [1825], the name wilsoni being given in 1826.)

Acording to Mr. Harting (Handbook, 1901, p. 434) a specimen was obtained at Taplow on August r, 1863. Neither Saunders nor Sharpe have quoted this occurrence. It was first published in the Zoologist, 1872, p. 3273.

172. Dunlin. Tringa alpina, Linn.

In spring, late summer and autumn but not at all periods of the year a more or less regular visitor to the banks of the Thames and other rivers, as well as to all reservoirs or large ponds.

173. Little Stint. Tringa minuta, Leisler.

Might possibly be found occasionally, as it was obtained on the Tring reservoirs in August 1883 and on July 29, 1893. (Speci- men in Tring Museum.) 174. Curlew-Sandpiper. Tringa subarquata (Gttldenstädt).

We have no evidence of this bird's occur- rence in Buckinghamshire, but it is sure to occur exceptionally, as it sometimes visits the Tring reservoirs, where, among others, three young birds were shot on September 3, 1892, and are now preserved in the Tring Museum.

175. Sanderling. Calidris arenaria (Linn.)

Clark Kennedy says that one was shot on the river Thames near Surley Hall in winter 1866. We have not seen the sanderling on the Tring reservoirs recently, though it oc- curred there at least as late as 1886 ; but on 1 8 August, 1902, an adult male, changing into winter plumage, was shot by Mr. T. Horwood near Drayton Beauchamp.

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/193


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/194

Rh 176. Ruff (? Reeve). Machetes pugnax (Linn.).

Kennedy mentions a specimen shot near Chesham. It was shot at Dinton Hall on August 8, 1774, and it has occasionally been shot on the Tring reservoirs, specimens shot on September 5, 1894 and September 19, 1898, being in the Tring Museum, but not on August 17, 1 895, as Mr. Grossman says.

177. Common Sandpiper. Totanus hypoleucus (Linn.).

A common bird in the migration periods. It has been reported to breed on suitable watercourses, such as the Chess, Colne, etc., which is probably correct, as it may be seen during the greater part of the year in most of these places. Frequently called the ' summer snipe.' Mr. Cocks tells us that it is now much rarer on the Thames.

178. Wood - Sandpiper. Totanus glareola (Gmelin).

Uncommon, but a more or less regular visitor during the migration periods, and generally stated to be rarer than the following species, which is however not the case near Tring.

179. Green Sandpiper. Totanus ochropus (Linn.).

Also seen during both migration periods, especially the autumnal one, but nowhere frequent.

[Mr. Grossman, in the list of birds of Hert- fordshire, has not mentioned the recording of a specimen of the Marsh-Sandpiper, T. stagnatilis, by W. Rothschild in October 1887. This bird was identified by means of Dresser's Birds of Europe, and with regard to the note in Mr. Saunders' Manual (p. 620) E. Hartert can only say that in 1891 he found his collaborator fully acquainted with the distinctive characters of T. stagnatilis and all its allies. Unfortunately the specimen in question was inadvertently burnt by the care- taker with a number of other very rare birds in 1890.]

180. Redshank. Totanus calldris (Linn.).

Occasionally met throughout the county. At Dinton Hall it was shot on August II, 1774. We have several specimens from the Tring reservoirs, where we have often seen the bird. A few years ago Mr. Charles J. Wilson observed one and sometimes two pairs of redshanks frequenting the river Ouse, just above Olney, during the months of May and June, for two or three years, and he is inclined to think that this species may breed there, which is quite possible.

181. Greenshank. Totanus canescens (Gmelin).

A more or less regular, though not fre- quent visitor, especially during the autumnal migration.

182. Bar-tailed Godwit. Limosa lapponica (Linn.).

' For a notice of the only occurrence in Buckinghamshire I am indebted to the Rev. Bryant Burgess of Latimer, who kindly wrote me word that in the first week of May 1 846 a pair of these birds were observed to frequent a field on the farm of Mr. Biggs, in the parish of Slapton. The hen bird was shot by Mr. Biggs, but unfortunately he neglected to skin it, and it became putrid. When in this state it was examined by Mr. Burgess, who found it to be in an intermediate state of plumage, having nearly acquired the red breast which is peculiar to this species in sum- mer ' (Clark Kennedy, p. 193). In winter 1895 (the exact date was not noted down) a man in the employ of Mr. H. M. Roberts in Ivinghoe shot a specimen that was feeding (or resting) near the brewery (H. M. Roberts in litt.).

183. Curlew. Numenius arquata (Linn.).

Sometimes the cry of this bird is heard at night, and small flocks are seen in the county during the migration periods, especially near the Thames and other waters. Specimens have been obtained near Chesham, Maiden- head, Woburn and in the Chiltern Hills (Kennedy, p. 143). In 1900 one was shot near Dinton Hall.

184. Whimbrel. Numenius phæaopus (Linn.).

According to notes given by the Rev. H. H. Crewe to Clark Kennedy, this bird is often seen on the reservoirs and canals near Halton and Tring, but we have no recent evidence of this. Two were shot in the north- eastern corner of Buckinghamshire, not far from the river Ouse, in the second week of May (Aplin, Zoologist, 1894, p. 267).

185. Black Tern. Hydrochelidon nigra (Linn.).

A not unfrequent but somewhat irregular visitor to the Thames and other waters throughout Buckinghamshire. In the late spring and early summer it appears however every year in some numbers on the Tring reservoirs. ' These birds were shot by Sir John van Hatton and the Rev. W. Nance on May 10, 1774, at Elthorpe ' (Dinton Hall MS.).

186. Sandwich Tern. Sterna cantiaca, Gmelin.

Mr. Heneage Cocks (Zoologist, 1895, p.

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/194


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Philadelphia (Palestine)


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/195

Rh Great Marlow on April 10, 1895. It has also once occurred on the reservoir near Tring in October 1886.

187. Common Tern. Sterna fluvia tilis, Naumann.

The sea swallow, as it is generally called, is a frequent visitor to all larger pieces of water and streams throughout the county.

188. Arctic Tern. Sterna macrura, Naumann.

According to Clark Kennedy this tern has several times been observed and obtained in the county: river Thames, Marsworth and Wilstone reservoirs.

189. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn.

An irregular and somewhat rare summer visitor, appearing mostly in small flocks on the Thames and larger reservoirs of the county during the autumnal migration period or in late summer. The terns are mostly called ' sea swallows.'

190. Black-headed or Brown-headed Gull. Larus ridibundus, Linn.

The commonest of all Laridæ, passing through in small numbers during the migration periods, and also seen sometimes in the late summer as well as in winter on the Thames, on reservoirs and streams.

191. Common Gull. Larus canus, Linn.

Certainly less numerous than Larus ridibundus, being a sea bird which does not breed inland, but is nevertheless often observed on the larger inland waters of the county (Thames, Chesham, Wycombe Rye, Halton reservoirs).

192. Herring-Gull. Larus argentatus, Gmelin.

This bird appears accidentally, mostly in severe weather, on the larger waters of the county.

193. Lesser Black-backed Gull. Larus fuscus, Linn,

An irregular visitor to the Tring reservoirs, therefore doubtless occasionally occurring in Buckinghamshire.

194. Great Black-backed Gull. Larus marinus, Linn.

Probably now and then occurring in Buckinghamshire, as it has been identified on the Tring reservoirs by W. Rothschild and the keeper, when visiting pinioned specimens of the same species.

195. Kittiwake. Rissa tridactyla (Linn.).

On January 11, 1830, a kittiwake was killed near Dinton Hall. According to Clark Kennedy, it occurs sometimes on the Thames and has been shot near Chesham.

196. Pomatorhine Skua. Stercorarius pomatorhinus (Temminck).

The only records we know of are those given in Clark Kennedy's book, viz.: ' I was informed by Mr. Gardner, of Oxford Street, that a skua of this species was sent to them for preservation by a gentleman resident in Buckinghamshire, on whose estate it was procured. The precise date, or further particulars, I was unable to ascertain. A second was taken some years since near Crendon; and Mr. Burgess told me of a third which was shot at Chesham, in November or December, 1859. The last is in the collection of Mr. Lowndes.'

197. Guillemot. Uria troile (Linn.).

According to Kennedy a male was caught in the river at Fenny Stratford on November 13, 1852, and another was seen near Simpson, in Buckinghamshire, on November 14, 1852.

198. Little Auk. Mergulus alle (Linn.).

We have two Buckinghamshire records. A single specimen was taken in 1841 'on one of the large pieces of water near Drayton Beauchamp' (fide Rev. B. Burgess in Kennedy, p. 212). Mr. Thos. Marshall (Standard, December 21, 1901) says that he knows of one obtained in Bulstrode Park, Bucks.

199. Puffin. Fratercula arctica (Linn.).

According to information from Mr. Heneage Cocks a puffin was caught after the great gale in October 1881, near Aylesbury.

200. Great Northern Diver. Colymbus glacialis, Linn.

Occurring occasionally on the larger waters of the county. An adult bird was found by William Saunders of Ford on December 3, 1774 (Dinton Hall MS. and picture). A ' young one ' (?) was obtained alive at Chequers Court near Risborough on May 9, 1850. Mr. W. B. Bolting (Field, xxvi. 426) records having bought one in December 1865, which was shot on the Thames; and a Mr. Lamb shot one at Maidenhead in 1794. It has also occurred two or three times on the Tring reservoirs.

201. Red-throated Diver. Colymbus septentrionalis, Linn.

According to Clark Kennedy, they used to be obtained on the Thames near Eton and Windsor and one was procured near Burnham.

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/195


text: The Corsair (Byron, 1814)/Sonnet (1)

title: The Corsair (Byron, 1814)/Sonnet (1)


text: The Corsair (Byron, 1814)/Sonnet (2)

title: The Corsair (Byron, 1814)/Sonnet (2)


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/196

Rh 202. Great Crested Grebe. Podiceps cristatus (Linn.).

As long ago as 1744 it was shot by Mr. van Hatten's keeper about a mile and a half from Dinton Hall. Occasionally obtained on the waters of the county. It breeds in some numbers on the Halton (Weston Turville) reservoirs, as well as on the Tring reservoirs. W. Rothschild saw a pair with young in May 1901, in Stowe Park near Buckingham.

203. Red-necked Grebe. Podiceps griseigena (Boddaert).

A ' fine specimen,' ' in winter plumage,' was shot at Sanderton near Risborough, on October 10, 1848.

204. Slavonian Grebe. Podiceps auritus (Linn.).

One was shot by Mr. Heneage Cocks' gardener at Great Marlow in the ' sixties.' Two were shot on Halton reservoir between 1874 and 1880. These were identified by the Rev. H. Harpur Crewe and seen by W. Rothschild in a keeper's possession, but we do not know where they are at the present moment. Mr. Kennedy mentions a specimen killed upon the Thames at Datchet in December 1867, and he heard of another near Eton about the same time.

205. Eared Grebe. Podiceps nigricollis (Brhem).

This bird was obtained on the Tring reservoirs in 1846 or 1847. The specimens were identified by W. Rothschild, who saw them in the hands of a keeper, but we do not know where they are now. The statement that it was found breeding on Tring reser- voirs (Kennedy, p. 210) must be erroneous. In the MS. at Dinton Hall a specimen shot on November 20, 1776, is figured.

206. Little Grebe or Dabchick. Podiceps fluviatilis (Tunstall).

A very common bird, breeding on many reservoirs and ponds of the county.

207. Storm-Petrel. Procellaria pelagica, Linn.

In 1865 an example was shot and pre- served near Burnham by a man named Hebbs. In October 1859, after the dreadful gale that wrecked the Royal Charter, one was found lying dead, but still warm, upon the road opposite the Priory, Burnham. On January 21, 1868, one was knocked down near Wy- combe (Kennedy). About the middle of October 1877, one (said to belong to this species) was seen flying against a mill at High Wycombe, but recovered and flew away. There had been strong gales the previous days (D. Thurlow, Field, 1877, Oct. 20, p. 441). In November 1880 a storm-petrel was picked up near Wendover (Clark Kennedy, Zoologist, 1881, p. 68).

208. Leach's Fork-tailed Petrel. Oceanodroma leucorrhoa (Vieillot).

After the strong gale in the summer of 1847 or 1848 a man named William Hibbs caught a specimen at Eton. On November 1, 1859, during the storm that brought a storm petrel to the county, a gardener of Lord Chesham found a fork-tailed petrel in the park at Latimer, which was examined by Mr. Burgess (Clark Kennedy, p. 218).

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/196


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/197

According to the list of British mammals given by Mr. Oldfield Thomas, F.R.S., in the Zoologist, 1898, p. 1OO, which is the latest authoritative statement on the subject, twelve or perhaps thirteen species of bats occur in the British Islands. How many of these are in- cluded in the fauna of Bucks is, I am sorry to say, uncertain. The ground may however be partially cleared by eliminating a few species which may safely be said not to be residents in the county, although owing to their powers of flight stray individuals may at any time appear within its borders, when they would be (as said under similar circumstances of birds) ' rare accidental visitors.'

Those species therefore which are believed not to be residents in the county are included in square brackets, but are inserted in their proper place in the following list.

This plan is adhered to in printing the re- maining orders of mammals as the most con- venient.

[Greater Horse-shoe Bat. Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum, Schreber.

Mr. (now the Rev.) J. E. Kelsall, in the Zoologist, 1887, p. 89, remarks that the distri- bution of the greater horse-shoe bat may be summarized as ' England south of the Thames (from Kent to Cornwall) and South Wales.' The same observer recorded one in the Zoologist for 1884, p. 483, as having been shot about 1875 at the Oxford reservoir, which is actually in Berks, about 7½ miles from the nearest point of Bucks.]

[Lesser Horse-shoe Bat. Rhinolophus hipposiderus, Bechstein.

The lesser horse-shoe bat does not appear to occur (except as an accidental straggler) in England to the south-east of Gloucestershire and Warwickshire (Zoologist, 1887, p. 91). The late Lord Lilford believed it to be more common than generally supposed in south Devon (ibid. p. 63).]

1 . Long-eared Bat. Plecotus auritus, Linn.

The long-eared bat is probably of general distribution throughout the county ; Mrs. Raikes reports it near Buckingham, and it is extremely common in the neighbourhood whence I write (Hambleden parish) ; there is a colony in my barn, and I have obtained specimens (here, and from the neighbouring parish of Turville) in nearly every month of the year, even December and January. Here- abouts indeed it appears to be even more numerous than the pipistrelle, which is cer- tainly not the case at Great Marlow. The long-eared bat has rather long hair, and the underside is quite light coloured. When at rest, the remarkable long ears can be folded as it were on hinges, in two directions (i) backwards, like a hood, so as to lie on the neck and shoulders, when the curiously high, semi-transparent tragus remains erect, and forms a very good substitute for the ears proper; and (2) sideways, in an outward direction, like the folding of a fish's fin when the tension on the anterior ray is relaxed.

2. Barbastelle. Barbastella barbastellus, Schreber.

Bell Barbastellus daubentonii. Bonap. Barbastellus communis.

The honour of securing the first recorded Bucks specimen of this species must be divided between three gentlemen, who, when at Mr. F. H. Parrott's bungalow at Great Kimble on 24 April 1904, in broad daylight about 3 o'clock on a beautiful sunny afternoon, noticed a bat flopping about in so peculiarly unsteady a fashion that Dr. J. C. Baker sug- gested attempting its capture with a landing- net. Mr. Parrott promptly produced one, and Mr. L. Crouch successfully manipulated it. Dr. Baker kindly took charge of the captive and handed it to me the following day.

As bats with the peculiar floppy flight de- scribed are not infrequent, it would seem probable that the barbastelle is hardly a rare species in Bucks. On 11 September 1904 I was brought another specimen, caught behind a window shutter at Ibstone House.

The peculiar face of this species once seen can never be again mistaken. The ears meet- ing in the middle line with the inner edge

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/197


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/198

Rh deeply folded or reduplicated, and the extra- ordinary hollow behind the naked nose, ex- tending thence to the ears, are unmistakable. The hair is very dark, with a purple tinge, and so long as to be almost shaggy. A small ill- defined patch on the under-side near the root of the tail is nearly white.

In the Zoologist, 1874, p. 4128, Mr. Wil- liam Borrer records the barbastelle from South Weston (near Tetsworth), Oxfordshire, and from Hornsey, Middlesex, on either side of Bucks, the former place being only about 3¾ miles from Bucks. The late Lord Lilford received a solitary specimen from near Oundle in Northamptonshire in March 1 894 (Zoologist, 1894, p. 187).

3. Serotine. Vespertilio serotinus, Schreber.

BellScotophilus serotinus. The late Lord Lilford (Zoologist, 1887, p. 65) states that he had never succeeded in obtaining this species in Northamptonshire, but felt certain that it occurs occasionally near Lilford ; but as its mode of flight, general coloration, make, and extent of wings, very much resemble those of the noc- tule, it is impossible to speak positively with- out having handled a specimen in the flesh. He received examples from Sussex and Hamp- shire.

In Bucks I have frequently noticed ' rat- bats,' i.e. bats of the largest size, of ob- viously different species, flying about at the same time. One species would be the noc- tule, and the serotine probably another.

[Parti-coloured Bat. Vespertilio murinus, Linn.

Mr. Oldfield Thomas considers this species only doubtfully British.]

4. Noctule (Great or White's Bat). Pipistrellus noctula, Schreber.

BellScotophilus noctula. WhiteVespertilk altivolans.

Common, and apparently universally dis- tributed in the county ; but essentially (so far as my own experience goes) a summer bat, very seldom appearing like some other species at odd times during every month of the year. At Great Marlow, noctules were always very common during August, but little seen after that month ; and though not absent, yet not specially in evidence during June or even July. One was found dead there in March, and I shot one at my present home on 30 September, which are somewhat unusual dates for meeting with this species. I always supposed that their habitat at Great Marlow was the creeper-covered spire of St. Peter's (R. C.) church ; but as there were plenty of old elms, containing numerous large hollows, close to the river, both on our lawn, and especially at Court Garden, besides others a little further inland, it is more probable that some of these trees harboured them. Many years ago a large number of bats, probably this species, were found in a hollow poplar on our lawn at Great Marlow. I have an example stuffed, which was captured (by the butler) in a butterfly net on our lawn at Great Marlow, one August evening about the middle of the ' sixties ' ; and have since then obtained various others both at Great Marlow and at my present abode in Hamble- den parish. They appear to be more numer- ous at the former than at the latter place. The fur is reddish brown, occasionally light fawn red ; muzzle, ears and membranes, dusky. Hair on membranes, and along under- side of fore-arms.

[Hairy-armed Bat. Pipistrellus leisleri, Kuhl.]

5 . Pipistrelle. Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Schreber.

BellScotophilus piptstrellus.

Probably by far the commonest bat in Bucks ; it was so at Great Marlow, but at my farm near Hambleden I think the long- eared bat outnumbers it. As however it generally flies low, and largely frequents the vicinity of houses, and is abroad on many more days of the year and oftener by day- light than most other species, the pipistrelle is more noticeable and more readily captured, and therefore appears proportionately com- moner than it is in reality.

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/198


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/199

Rh [Bechstein's Bat. Myotis kechsteini, Leisler.

BellVespertillo bechsteini.

On 10 March 1901, while exploring a chalk cave on the Berks side of the Thames, at Park Place near Henley, only about 1½ miles from the Bucks border, Messrs. Heatley Noble and J. G. Millais captured six bats. These comprised one long-eared bat, two Natterer's bats, two Daubenton's bats, and one which proved to be a Bechstein's bat.

The first British examples of the species were taken a good many years ago in the New Forest, and are now in the British Museum ; about a dozen examples were found in the same locality by Mr. E. W. H. Blagg in July 1886, one of which was iden- tified by Mr. Oldfield Thomas ; and two examples were obtained at Preston near Brighton. ]

6. Natterer's Bat. Myotis nattereri, Kuhl.

BellVesfertlllo nattereri. The late Lord Lilford (Zoologist, 1887, p. 64) considered Natterer's bat ' very local,' but stated that it was ' by no means uncom- mon ' in his neighbourhood in Northampton- shire. There is no reason to doubt its occur- rence in Bucks, though I do not know of any specimen being actually obtained ; but as stated under the last species, two examples were obtained within 1½ miles of the borders of the county, on the Berks side of the Thames near Henley on 10 March 1901 ; and in the Zoologist, 1903, p. 349, this species is recorded from Turvey, Bedfordshire, less than a mile from the Bucks border near Ol- ney, where Mr. J.Steele-Elliott saw 'several' and obtained one ; also from Bloxham (about a dozen miles from Bucks) in Oxon, in which county Mr. O. V. Aplin says it ' does not seem to be very uncommon ' ; and from Milford, Surrey (near Godalming), where Mr. G. Dalgliesh obtained a single example.

7. Daubenton's Bat. Myotis daubentoni, Leisler.

BellVesperttllo daubentonii.

As with the last species, there is no reason to doubt that Daubenton's bat occurs in Bucks, though I do not know of any specimen having been actually identified ; but as men- tioned under Bechstein's bat, two examples were obtained on the Berks side of the Thames near Henley, about 1½ miles from the Bucks border, in March 1901. No doubt it is this species which one so commonly sees on the Thames, flying just above the surface of the water.

8. Whiskered Bat. Myotis mystacinus, Leisler.

Bell Vespertilio mystacinus.

The whiskered bat may be expected to occur sparingly in Bucks, but I regret that I am again with this species unable to speak with certainty. Bell records it in Northamp- tonshire and Warwickshire, and in Kent. Mr. O. V. Aplin obtained a single example at Bloxham in Oxfordshire in July 1901 (Zoologist, 1901, p. 315), and it has also been recorded from Godstow near Oxford.

Insectivora

9. Hedgehog. Erinaceus europieus, Linn.

Generally distributed and common. Usual food, beetles and worms ; but to some extent destructive to both eggs and young of game birds. That flesh is not their normal food however is shown by the loud champing noise and the slow progress made when eating any- thing of the kind. I once tamed a freshly- caught adult hedgehog in an hour by pouring beer into the concavity resulting from the folding of its two ends on to the underside, as it lay on its back, tightly curled up ; each time that it was forced to uncurl I handled it, and poured in more beer when it curled up again ; until after a few doses of beer alter- nating with handling, it became too intoxi- cated to curl up any more ! From that time forwards it always allowed me to handle it freely without rolling up. One only, out of the many I have kept, was ferocious, and if a finger was held out to him, he would at once fly at it and seize it, and allow himself to be held in the air for a long while before letting go. Hedgehogs are seldom abroad during the daytime, but are lively after dusk. Indeed the few that I have seen about in broad daylight appeared to be invalids, and swarming with fleas ; but whether the fleas were the cause or the effect of the indisposi- tion I cannot say. They lie up in hedge- bottoms, or any little hollow in a wood that is dry, and where they can hide under dead leaves or dry grass. Hedgehogs hibernate partially or imperfectly ; that is to say for un- certain periods, up to perhaps a month at a time. I have known hedgehogs breed in April ; also between mid August and mid September ; they are therefore either irregular in their breeding season, or more likely have two, or

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/199


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/200

Rh even more litters in a year. The number in the litter has ranged between four and seven.

10. Mole. Talpa europtea, Linn.

If it were not for the mould excavated in their tunnelling, which breaks the level grass surface of meadows, and that their sharp teeth sever the roots of corn or other crops which they encounter in tunnelling, moles would be unmixed benefactors, both on account of the worms and grubs which they eat and their appetite is far larger in pro- portion to their size than that of (probably) any other mammal except the shrews and also on account of the surface drainage which their long tunnels produce. Moreover the ' hills ' which they throw up, though in the way in mowing grass, form, when spread about, the very best top-dressing. In com- mon with every other animal, they are con- stantly persecuted by man ; but as their natural enemies most of the carnivorous mammals and predaceous birds are so largely extirpated, it may be doubted whether their numbers are much diminishing. The young, about three or four in number, are born in or about April, in hills nearly 2 feet in height, lined with grass, constructed in any quiet place where the grass or other vegetation is long and fairly hides them. What may be considered a favourite site, for instance, is the enclosure round a rick in a corner of a mea- dow, which very likely remains unentered until the rick is cut. The young, when not too small, readily drink cows' milk from a tea- spoon, so could be easily reared. Having captured a mole one hot summer's day, which a friend and I waited for as it seemed to be working its way to the surface, and being close to the Thames, I experimented as to whether these animals can swim, by placing it gently in the water over the side of a boat. It struck out vigorously with its fore-paws, but floated in a nearly upright position, seem- ing not to understand how to maintain a horizontal one by the help of the hind limbs ; and it seemed evident that it could not cross anything wider than a very narrow ditch or brook. My experiment however was possibly not a complete one, as I very shortly rescued my captive from its evidently unsuited element. Mr. John Williams, Treasurer of the Bucks Architectural and Archaeological Society, Aylesbury, has a chocolate coloured mole stuffed, obtained at Broughton about 1884 or 1885. Captain Clark Kennedy (Zoologist, 1867) was told of a cream coloured example with pink eyes obtained near Eton (though whether on the Bucks or Berks side of the river is not stated) in the summer of 1865. The late Rev. H. Harpur Crewe mentioned in the Zoologist, 1878, p. 22, a pale orange coloured specimen obtained at Halton about the pre- vious November.

11. Common Shrew. Sorex araneus, Linn.

Apparently universally distributed, and probably far more numerous than the number seen (dead and alive) would lead one to sup- pose. Examples vary a good deal in colour and measurements.

12. Pigmy Shrew. Sorex minutus, Linn. BellSorex pygmæus.

I have seen and obtained a few lesser shrews on my land in Hambleden parish, but though the species is undoubtedly to a great extent overlooked, it appears to be much less numerous than the common species. The external differences between the pigmy and an immature common shrew of like size (putting aside the differences in dentition, which cannot be detected in living examples, and hardly in dead specimens without skin- ning them) are well shown in the figures in Bell's second edition, where however these points are not noted under the head of specific characters. The nose of the lesser species is somewhat longer, and more tumid and softer than in the common species, and the tail is thicker. The latter seems also to be more uniformly long than in the common species, in which its length is rather variable. In their normal coloration the two species are, I think, hardly distinguishable, but there appears to be more individual variation in the common species than there is in the pigmy ; though this may be simply due to the want of observation of a larger series of pigmies. Their colour, so far as I have had opportunity of noting, is snuff-brown, shading into brownish gray on the under side. In this respect, Bell's figure is unsatisfactory. Tail covered with hair, corresponding in coloration on its upper and lower sides with the upper and lower sides of the body.

13. Water Shrew. Neomys fodiens, Pallas.

BellCrossopus fodiens.

I have occasionally met with the water shrew near Great Marlow, though never in the immediate proximity of water. At Poynetts, my present home near Hambleden, I have obtained several examples, and one from a field in Turville half a mile or rather

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/200


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/201

Rh more distant, and seen a few others. This seems noteworthy, because the valley is perfectly dry as a rule, but a landspring broke out in consequence of the wet summer of 1903, and these water shrews seem to have anticipated it, and some were obtained before the water appeared. No doubt they would find moisture before the water was sufficient to be perceptible to human beings. One of these caught alive on 8 August gave birth to a litter of four or five young during that night; they were blind and naked, and hardly larger than common house flies, not nearly so large as bluebottles. She had had no time to prepare a nest, and after taking every care of them for two whole days, she ate them during the third night.

Up to the time of writing she has thriven on a ' diet of worms,' occasionally varied by a beetle, grub, moth, etc., and captured a fly which incautiously came of its own accord within reach. A cockchafer was evidently considered a great (in both senses) prize, and she attacked it standing on three legs, one or other forepaw in turn being held raised, ready for action perhaps in case the victim resented being eaten piecemeal. It is amusing to watch her with a large worm when the latter is lively; the encounter then becomes heroic. She does not care for snails so long as the worms continue in such plenty. Of these I reckon that she eats quite once and a half her own bulk daily, and fully twice her own weight. The amount which passes from her, consisting chiefly of the earth contained in the worms, is on a correspondingly surprising scale. When excited she utters a rather shrill chatter, which is always, so far as I have noticed, sustained for half a minute or so, and never limited to a single note. As may be expected from the elongated, delicate snout, the shrews hunt their prey by scent. This specimen raises its long flexible nose nearly straight up, and bends it on itself rapidly from side to side, and very quickly discovers the whereabouts of a worm. When yawning the flexible nose is turned considerably up nearly to a right angle with the gape, and the upper incisor teeth then show as of surprising length. Mr. C. Harper of Grendon Underwood informs me that he once saw a pair of water shrews in a brook near Brill, and watched them ' sporting about ' for some time; and in May 1 903 he saw one in a brook close to Aylesbury. Dr. J. C. Baker, M.B., M.B.O.U., and Mr. F. H. Parrott of Aylesbury inform me that the water shrew is found in colonies on the banks of the canal between that town and Aston Clinton, nearer the latter; attention was directed to them from finding piles of empty snail shells on the banks. The Sorex remifer, or oared shrew, is now admitted to be merely a variety of this species.

[Wild Cat. Felts catus, Linn.

The wild cat has so long been exterminated in the county that no record or tradition of it remains. It must have been already very scarce if not altogether gone, when first the churchwardens of the different parishes took to paying rewards for the killing of various carnivorous animals, as I have in no case met with an entry referring to it. On two occasions at Great Marlow I trapped cats which I am convinced were feral cats that had never been under a roof in their lives, but born in a wild state, descendants of run-away ancestors. They were coloured and marked almost exactly like wild cats, so much so that my animal keeper, who is in daily touch with specimens of the true Felis catus, in both cases thought they were real wild cats; but the smooth coat, thin tapering tail, and inferior bone, left me in no doubt even momentarily as to their nature. I once lost a wild cat at Great Marlow, which for all I ever heard to the contrary may still be roaming the county! In captivity I have usually found the gestation to be sixtyeight days, in one case sixty-six, and in one other sixty-five days.]

14 . Fox. Vulpes vulpes, Linn.

BellVulpes vulgaris.

A few have been turned down in the county, but probably a much larger number have been poisoned. One of the latter, a vixen suckling a strong litter, was found by me on my farm in Hambleden (but not poisoned there!) on 15 March 1901. Mice, probably any species they meet with, and moles certainly enter largely into the dietary of this species, and fruits (in their season) of almost any kind obtainable. I have kept several specimens in captivity, but finally gave up doing so, on account of the strong and lasting smell which is beyond comparison worse than that of badgers and polecats, which are usually credited as special offenders in this respect. Foxes, however tame, have an underhand way of sneaking up to one from behind, in marked contrast to the

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/201


text:
Portal:Dictionaries and general reference

Dictionaries

 * A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, 1806 by Noah Webster
 * A Dictionary of Australian Words and Terms, 1924 by Gilbert H. Lawson
 * A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant, 1889 by Albert Barrère and Charles Godfrey Leland
 * A Dictionary of the English Language, 1755 by Samuel Johnson

Translating dictionaries

 * An Ainu–English–Japanese Dictionary
 * An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland
 * A Latin Dictionary
 * A Japanese-English and English-Japanese Dictionary

Chinese languages

 * A Chinese and English vocabulary, in the Tie-chiu dialect, 1883 by Josiah Goddard
 * Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect, 1929 by R. S. Maclay, C. C. Baldwin and Samuel H. Leger
 * An English-Chinese Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect, 1905 by T. B. Adam
 * English-Chinese Vocabulary of the Vernacular Or Spoken Language of Swatow, 1883 by Rudolf Lechler, Samuel Wells Williams, William Duffus
 * Dictionary of the Swatow dialect, 1883 by Adele Marion Fielde

Specialized dictionaries

 * Dictionary of French Architecture from the 11th to 16th Century
 * A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities
 * Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922)

Biographical

 * Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900
 * A Dictionary of Saintly Women

Religious

 * A Dictionary of Hymnology
 * A Dictionary of Islam
 * Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)

Wörterbücher fr:Wikisource:Dictionnaires


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/202

Rh straightforward habits of otters and other animals.

[Pine Marten. Mustela martes. Linn.

I know of no occurrence of the marten the most beautiful of the British mammals in Bucks, although as lately as 1891 an ex- ample was seen disporting itself in a tree by a gentleman entomologizing only a mile or two outside the borders of the county. I prefer not to indicate the locality, in case there should still be an example or two left there, as I have heard of specimens being obtained there within tolerably recent years ; and a gamekeeper near here knows the species from seeing one or more examples there before he came to his present situation. No doubt however the locality will be fully indicated in the Victoria History of the county in which it is situated. Martens are not mentioned in any of the churchwardens' accounts of this county which I have examined. I have bred five litters of this species in captivity ; three of these numbered three, one litter numbered two ; from the re- maining litter I only reared one, but with little doubt heard the voices of one or two other cubs at first. The gestation is surpris- ingly long, probably 103 days, but certainly between 94 and 106 days. The young are pure white at birth. I am not aware of this species having ever been bred in captivity elsewhere.]

15. Polecat. Putorius putorius, Linn.

BellMustela putorius.

Within the last five-and-twenty years pole- cats still occurred if but thinly over a great part of the county, and fifty years ago seem to have been pretty general ; but the steel- trap has nearly cleared them out, and at the present time only a very few stragglers remain, of which two or three are within a couple of miles or so of this house at the time of writing this. The following are a few parishes in which I have actually heard of polecats within recent years, though probably not one of them contains examples at the present time : various parishes round Ayles- bury (Bierton, etc.), Steeple Claydon, Biddies- den, Stowe, Dorton, Long Crendon, Kingsey, Hedsor. Mr. J. H. B. Cowley in the Zoologist, 1890, p. 178, mentions having received three specimens from Bucks, namely from Bierton, Waddesdon and Stoke Mande- ville. Churchwardens' accounts in all parts of the county prove the general distribution of this species through the eighteenth century by constant entries of payments for victims. In Hambleden parish the accounts show that between the years 1722 and 1808 ( = 87 years) the churchwardens paid for 330 polecats, or an average of 3¾ per year. The largest number in one year was 21. Three examples which I obtained in 1880 and 1881 from Kingsey Park were all accidentally caught in rabbit-trapping, and not in traps intended for vermin ; and the use of steel traps for rabbit catching has probably done more to extirpate polecats throughout the country than all the traps intended for them specially. I have had considerably over 100 polecats in my menagerie, inclusive of those born in captivity. Of 25 litters of this species born in my collection, there were born in :

and a litter of five cubs received early in July were, according to my estimate, born about 24 May. Of these 26 litters :

2 litters numbered 6 young 5 ""5" 4 ""4" 5 ""3" 4 ""2" 3 ""1" Probably a larger number born

number not ascertained.

It is curious that a litter is not as a rule fairly evenly divided as to sex ; but usually all the cubs, or all but one, are of the same sex. One male polecat born in my collection I rescued from his cannibal mother just in time ; she had eaten the other members of the litter, and had already taken a bite out of him. His eyes were not yet open, but I had no difficulty in rearing him by my bedside. He grew up perfectly tame, and was a remarkably amusing pet, but he had one serious failing. With prophetic acumen I named him ' Snap,' and seldom has a name been more appropriate, for though perfectly tame and as playful as a kitten, he could not resist every now and then having a good hard chew at a finger. I used to let him run loose on the lawn when I could look after him, and at other times tethered him by collar and line to a peg. Not unfre- quently if left unwatched too long, I should find he had slipped his collar and disappeared. A Lapland dog, of the large breed such as is used in Norway and Sweden for elk hunting, was then set to find him for me. The dog would retreat before him, and was perfectly

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/202


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/203

Rh to be trusted not to attempt to injure him, while the polecat, who knew quite well the dog's amiable disposition, would come flying out of a bush or other cover, springing high and far, making feints at the dog's nose. Some two or three times I had occasion to chastise the dog while the polecat was loose on the lawn. Directly he saw his friend in a scrape, describing a circle as I held on to his collar, the little wretch would fly at the dog's tail or hind quarters, and be whisked round at the outer axis of the circle. I have no idea how many times the keeper who then had charge of my animals came to me and declared that 'Snap' had had the last drop of his blood that he ever should have ; but probably within a week the same declaration would be repeated ; and this, time after time. There was something extremely fascinating about the little varmint ! On one occasion when my old friend, Captain F. H. Salvin, came to pay me a visit, being engrossed I suppose in interesting conversation, I left ' Snap ' tethered on the lawn when we went indoors for dinner. During the meal I recollected him, and as soon as we had finished we went out after him, only to find that ' Snap ' had slipped his collar and vanished. I hunted the Lapland dog round the various shrubberies after him, while Salvin stood more or less still in the open. Presently I heard a loud view hollo from him, and hastening back, he told me that while stand- ing quite still he was startled by ' Snap ' run- ning up his leg. The view hollo had how- ever apparently caused him to relinquish his hold and drop, and scuttle off again into the darkness. The dog however very soon found him and I ' collected ' him. On some two or three occasions when there were rats in the cowhouse or other conveniently enclosed place, I tried him in the capacity of ferret. But directly he smelt rat, long before he saw one, he became so demoniacal from excite- ment that I was glad to catch him up in a wire trap and not attempt to handle him again that day. I never ventured to try him at rabbits, or at rats anywhere in the open, because he was such a galloper. There was no running into him in a fair stern chase so long as he went on, but fortunately he never ran (at any rate if pressed) for more than about a hundred yards (generally less) without taking cover, where one got a chance of pick- ing him up. He greatly appreciated being carried about in one of the ' hare pockets ' of one's jacket, and would often sit in it with his bright little eyes looking out at the top and taking in all there was to be seen. Rabbits, rats and mice form unquestionably the staple articles of polecats' diet ; but no species of bird which roosts on the ground (or is otherwise to be caught there) would come amiss, unless perhaps the great bustard may have been in its day considered too large. It may be doubted also whether swans would be attacked. Hedgehogs when skinned form of course good food for nearly all carni- vorous animals, and the skins with their fleshy panniculus carnosus and the bristles, go to my polecats and hybrid stoat-ferrets, who always eat them bristles and all ! Eels are much appreciated, and frogs also. Polecats (in a wild state) are during the autumn much in- fested with ticks.

16. Common Stoat. Putorius ermineus. Linn.

Bell Mustela erminea.

Still fairly common (and in some places decidedly so) in spite of the unremitting per- secution to which it is subjected in conse- quence of the prevailing system of game preservation, but must inevitably become scarce before many more years are past. It is the most douce and phlegmatic of the British Mustelidæ, rarely showing rage in captivity, the very opposite of its near relation the excitable weasel. A few white examples occur probably every winter, or at least when there is a spell of unusually cold weather before Christmas. In this county, as else- where in the southern part of England, the white coat is rarely perfect, but generally a little colour remains on the back of the head and neck. A white example was caught in a wire trap at Lowgrounds farm, Great Marlow, on 30 December 1877, which had been seen on several previous days. A large white one was shot at Turville Court in December 1901 ; and stuffed white speci- mens are to be seen in probably nearly every parish in the county. I have been told of a buff young one in a litter of ordinary colour; probably this was an albino. A stoat sent me by a friend from Banffshire in October 1901 had, in the following January, a band of white about ¼ inch wide across the upper jaw, just behind the naked nose. About two years later, in January 1903, it again had the same narrow band of white across the nose, the normal white on the lower side then extending considerably more than half way up the flanks, and including the whole of the legs, and the cheeks with the insides of the ears ; and in addition the rump and tail, with the exception of course of the black tip of the latter, are white. It seems probable, though I write under reserve, as I have only recently formed the opinion, and regret not having utilized all opportunities

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/203


text:
Page:Weird Tales volume 42 number 04.djvu/47

 door. In a moment he was back and held the door open. "This way, if you pleez," he invited.

Mycroft was not quite certain what he would find; what he did find amazed him. Vaguely he had thought the place would reek with incense, possibly be hung with meretricious tapestries and papier-mache weapons, perhaps display a crystal ball or two against cheap cotton-velvet table covers. He was almost awe-struck by the somber magnificence of the room into which he was ushered. Deep-piled rugs from Hamadan and Samarkand lay on the floor, the furniture was obviously French, dull matte-gold wood upholstered in olive-green brocade, on the walls were either Renoir and Picasso originals or imitations good enough to fool a connoisseur; somewhat incongruously, above the fireplace where logs blazed on polished andirons hung a square of rather crudely woven cotton stuff bordered in barbaric black and green. On second look the border proved to be a highly conventionalized but still disturbingly realistic serpent. More in character was the enormous black Persian cat that crouched upon a lustrous Bokhara prayer rug before the fire, paws tucked demurely under it, great plumy tail curled round it, and stared at him with yellow, sulphurous eyes.

"Good evening, Mr. Mycroft, you wished to see me?" Mycroft started as if he had been stung by a wasp. He had not heard the speaker enter, and certainly he was not prepared to be greeted by name.

T THE entrance of the drawing room stood his host, smiling faintly at his discomfiture. He was a tall man of uncertain age, dressed with a beautiful attention to detail in faultless evening clothes. The studs of his immaculate white shirt were star sapphires, so were his cuff links, in his lapel showed the red ribbon of the Legion d'Honneur, and he was very black. But not comic, not "dressed up," not out of character. He wore his English-tailored dress clothes as one to the manner born, and there was distinction, almost a nobility, about his features that made Mycroft think of the head of an old Roman Emperor, or perhaps a statesman of the Golden Age of the Republic, carved in basalt.

He had planned his introduction, humorous, and a little patronizing, but as he stared at the other Mycroft felt stage fright. "I—" he began, then gulped and stumbled in his speech. "I—uh—I've heard about you. Mister—Monsieur Toussaint. Some friends of mine told me—"

"Yes?" prompted Toussaint as Mycroft's voice frayed out like a pulled woolen thread. "What is it that you want of me?"

"I've heard you're able to do remarkable things—" once more he halted, and a look of irritation crossed his host's calm features.

"Really, Mr. Mycroft—"

"I've heard that you have power to raise spirits!" Mycroft blurted confusedly. "I'm told you can bring spirits of the dead back—" Once again he halted, angry with himself for the fear he felt clawing at his throat. "Can it be done? Can you do it?"

"Of course," Toussaint replied, quite as if he had been asked if he could furnish musicians for a party. "Whose spirit is it that you want called? When—and how—did he die?"

Mycroft felt on surer ground now. There was no nonsense about this Toussaint, no hint of the charlatan. He was a businessman discussing business. "There are several of them—twenty-five or -six. They died in—er—different ways. You see, they served with me in—"

"Very well, Mr. Mycroft. Come here night after tomorrow at precisely ten minutes to twelve. Everything will be in readiness, and you must on no account be late. Leave your telephone and address with the butler, in case I have to get in touch with you."

"And the fee?"

"The fee will be five hundred dollars, payable after the seance, if you're satisfied. Otherwise there will be no charge. Good evening, Mr. Mycroft."

The impulse had come to him that evening as he walked across the Park from


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/204

Rh of noting the point, that the amount of white in the summer coat increases with age, and by inference that the majority of individuals in this and other southern counties which turn more or less completely white in winter are fairly old animals (not necessarily of extreme age). In some cases in the summer coat the white on the hind feet is limited to one or two hairs, while on the fore feet merely the three inner toes are more or less white, and the two outer toes have only one or two white hairs on them. On the other hand some summer specimens have all four feet completely white, the white extending up so as to be continuous with that on the under side of the body, which also varies in breadth; and there are all intermediate variations. A female trapped at Ibstone on 13 March 1901 contained five foetuses, three in the right horn of the uterus, and two in the left, about the size of castor oil beans (or the largest pea, or small nut), making it probable that she was about a fortnight gone in pregnancy. If therefore, as is likely, though quite unknown, the gestation of this species is about forty days, these young would have been born about 8 April. The average date for the birth of stoats is probably a little later than this. In captivity stoats starve sooner than eat ' pluck ' even perfectly fresh livers, hearts, etc., of rabbits or poultry, but must be fed exclusively on the flesh of birds or small animals; rabbits by preference! It is astonishing to see, when a heavy fall of snow facilitates tracking, the amount of ground a stoat will cover; and when rabbits are scarce, the great number of holes a stoat will descend in quest of a supper. In summer stoats often frequent the banks of small rivers, or ditches, in pursuit of water-voles. They are good climbers, sometimes ascending trees to a height of 30 feet or so, and are quite adept at birds' nesting in tall hedges. They have much larger feet in proportion to their size than either polecats or weasels, and like martens are to a great extent plantigrade. I have a race of hybrids between stoat and ferret and now descended to the fourth generation of hybrid bred with hybrid. Instances of weasels being caught in traps set for moles in the runs of the latter are common, but it seems worth recording the capture of a stoat under these circumstances on my land at Poynetts in Hambledon parish on 29 February 1904. It was caught without injury by the neck and I have it alive at the time this is passing through the pres..

[The Irish Stoat, Putorius hibernicus, is confined to the country it is named after.]

17. Weasel. Putorius nivalis, Linn.

Bell Mustela vulgans.

Probably everywhere in Bucks, as elsewhere in the southern three-quarters of Great Britain, the weasel is more numerous than the stoat; very much thinned down where game has been systematically preserved over a fairly large area for any length of time, but still fairly numerous where there are districts less strictly trapped, and in some places quite common. Among animals whose dietary presents no special difficulty, weasels are perhaps the hardest to keep alive for any length of time in captivity, from their excitability. No animal gets tame up to a certain point so quickly as the general run of weasels, and yet at any subsequent time any disturbance may cause sudden death, apparently by something akin to apoplexy. While admittedly mischievous to the young of game birds and to rabbits, yet to farmers, gardeners, horticulturists and foresters, weasels are the greatest possible benefactors. Like kestrels and the owls among birds, their chief food supplies are drawn from the hosts of mice and small voles which work such an incalculable amount of mischief to the vegetable world. The committee appointed by the Board of Agriculture in 1892 to inquire into the plague ot field voles in Scotland, recommended that weasels should be tolerated, as from their small size, the destruction they wreak on game is slight, while the good they effect by checking the numbers of the smaller rodents is very great and certain. Weasels are hardly such expert climbers as stoats, which may be accounted for by their shorter legs and relatively much smaller sized feet, and being more digitigrade than the latter. They have not the aquatic habits of the stoat. A sign of their uncontrollable excitability is shown in a state of freedom by the readiness with which they can sometimes be drawn from a hiding place by making a sharp chirping or squeaking noise; and in captivity by the extraordinary boldness with which after a very few days they come out and show themselves, so different to the behaviour of any other wild animal with which I am acquainted. There are exceptions even to this rule; I have had one weasel, and one only, that declined to show itself until it had been caged for a good many weeks. I have been told since I came to live at mv p resent home in Hambleden parish,

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/204


text:
Page:An Introduction to the Study of Fishes.djvu/89

Rh


text:
Page:Weird Tales volume 42 number 04.djvu/48

 his apartment to his club in East Eighty-sixth Street. Spring had come to New York, delicately as a ballerina dancing sur les pointes, every tree was veiled in scarves of green chiffon, every park was jeweled with crocus-gold, but he had found no comfort in awakening nature, nor any joy in the sweet softness of the air. That morning as he unfurled his Times in the subway on his way downtown he had seen the notice of Roy Hardy's death. Roy had been the twenty-sixth. He was the last man.

More than fifty years ago they had marched down the Avenue, eager, bright-faced, colors flying, curbside crowds cheering. Off to Cuba, off to fight for Liberty. Remember the Maine!

the band had blared. He could still hear the echo of Max Schultz's cornet as he triple-tongued the final note.

They didn't look too much like soldiers, those ribbon-counter clerks and bookkeepers and stock exchange messengers. The supercilious French and British correspondents and observers smiled tolerantly at their efforts to seem military; the Germans laughed outright, and the German-armed, German-trained Spanish veterans disdained them. But after El Caney and San Juan Hill the tune changed. Astounded and demoralized, the Spaniards surrendered in droves, the foreigners became polite, the Cubans took the valiant Americans to their collective hearts, and no one was more gracious in his hospitality than Don José Rosales y Montalvo, whose house in the Calle O'Brien became an informal headquarters for the officers and noncoms of the company.

Don José's table creaked and groaned beneath a load of delicacies such as those young New Yorkers had never seen or even heard of and his cellars seemed inexhaustible. Lads who had known only beer, or, in more reckless moments, gin and whiskey, were introduced to St. Estephe, Johannesburg and Nuites St. Georges. Madeira and Majorca flowed like water, champagne was common as soda pop at home.

But more intoxicating than the strongest, headiest vintage in Don José's caves was Doña Juanita Maria, his daughter. She was a rubia, a Spanish blonde, with hair as lustrous as the fine-drawn wires of the gold filigree cross at her throat. Little, tiny, she walked with a sort of lilting, questing eagerness, her every movement graceful as a grain-stalk in the wind. Her voice had that sweet, throaty, velvety quality found only in southern countries, and when she played the guitar and sang cancións the songs were fraught with yearning sadness and passionate longing that made those hearing her catch their breath.

Every man-jack of them was in love with her, and not a one of them but polished up his Spanish to say, "Yo te amo, Juanita—Juanita, I love you!" And there was not a one of them who did not get a sweet, tender refusal and, by way of consolation, a chaste, sisterly kiss on the cheek.

HE night before their transport sailed Don José gave a party, a celebración grande. The patio of the house was almost bright as noon with moonlight, and in the narrow Saracenic arches between the pillars of the ambulatory Chinese lanterns hung, glowing golden-yellow in the shadows. A long table clothed with fine Madeira drawnwork and shining silver and crystal was laid in the center of the courtyard, at its center was a great bouquet of red roses. Wreathed in roses a fat wine cask stood on wooden sawhorses near the table's head. "It is Pedro Ximenes, a full hundred years old," Don José explained pridefully. "I have kept it for some great occasion. Surely this is one. What greater honor could it have than to be served to Cuba's gallant liberators on the eve of their departure?"

After dinner toasts were drunk. To Cuba


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/205

Rh of weasels being seen fighting near here, so engrossed that they almost allowed a man to put his foot on them ; of a troop numbering ten in company in one of my meadows ; and of a weasel being chased by a rabbit out of my wood, far out on to a ploughed field. A friend (in Oxfordshire) told me that his keeper recently found in a ' Wonder ' wire trap (which requires no setting) a weasel and a rat, the former being dead. The question natur- ally suggests itself, which followed the other in?

18. Badger. Meles meles, Linn.

BellMeles taxus.

Still fairly represented in the county. They no longer I believe occur in any of the parishes in the south-east border of the county, but they certainly occur in many, and pro- bably in a large majority, of the remainder. Mr. W. Uthwatt of Little Linford Manor says there are none in that parish (though he has twice turned one down there) or in that of Newport Pagnell, but some were found in the adjoining parish of Calverton. They cannot be said to be ' generally distributed ' like rabbits, moles, etc., but inhabit certain woods or other spots, leaving others unoccu- pied. A few miles from Buckingham where woods are generally small, and the land chiefly pasture, they inhabit holes near the hedges of grass meadows quite devoid of rough vegetation or any other cover. Here on frosty mornings steam may be seen rising from the holes, apparently showing unmistak- ably where a badger is lying underneath. During the last thirty-three years I have kept a good many badgers in captivity ; a pair in my possession at the time of writing were caught about two miles from this house, and I have at different times been offered a good many from this neighbourhood. The female (of the above pair) was dug out in a neigh- bouring wood on 2 March 1902, with her two small cubs about three weeks old, which, as I had expected, she killed during the ensu- ing night. On different days in May 1902 I was brought another pair of cubs from the wood previously mentioned, born probably much about the same time as the other cubs, and therefore then aged about three months. These I also purchased, hoping to save their lives. The young female died from injury received in trapping, but the young male con- tinued to share a cage with the old female, where he gradually grew into a fine animal. Early on the morning of 21 March 1903 young were born, but whether the young male was their father, or some wild male met with over a year before I do not know. The gestation of badgers has been discussed over and over again during the last half-century, and though the accumulation of more instances is neces- sary before the question can be considered settled, yet the evidence available, when re- viewed, seems to point unmistakably to the very remarkable conclusion that the period may be anything between under five and over fifteen months, or a range of over ten months, and yet that the young are all born within a season of about six weeks. In over twenty cases in which either the exact or approximate date of the births of young is recorded all fall between 10 February and 21 March, a small majority being in the latter month. Moreover the females which paired earliest by no means necessarily whelp earlier in the six weeks' season than others which paired several months after them.

It seems probable that the length of the individual gestation is correlated with a vary- ing degree of maturity in the young when born. For instance in one case the young were stated to have been blind for twenty- nine days, and in the case of a litter born in my collection the time was about thirty days, the bed-box being too dark to admit of certain observation ; while Mr. J. Paterson, who has bred several litters in captivity, states that the young are blind for six weeks, and the same time is given in a case recorded in; the Field, 11 May 1872. There is a similar difference of opinion as to whether the cubs are born naked. The litter generally numbers two, somewhat less frequently three ; sometimes there is only one cub and occasionally four, the average being about two and a quarter. Their eyes are very inconspicuous, being sunk, and not prominent as in the young of most animals. They are rather long-lived animals ; I had one female for over fourteen years, which had then to be killed, as she dis- located her shoulder ; and I know instances of their living over fifteen years in captivity. They are very inoffensive animals, and not at all quarrelsome. Albinism (though I cannot say whether in every case the eyes were pink, as in some instances I merely saw skins where the colour of the eyes had not been noted or since forgotten) is common among badgers ; but in every example that I have met with, including two or three Bucks specimens, the coat is not a uniform white, but the facial stripes, and all other parts which are normally black, are cinnamon-coloured. Badgers are wholly nocturnal, or crepuscular, never ven- turing abroad even in the long summer even- ings, before at least the near approach of twilight.

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/205


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/206

Rh Their food supply covers a wide range, but the chief source is furnished by the in- vertebrate hosts beetles, worms, slugs, etc. ; but nothing (in a fresh state) that I know of except toads, that can be included under the comprehensive term 'animal food,' comes amiss to them. Stops of young rabbits, and old ones to boot ; mice, and especially moles ; the young of any ground-nesting bird they happen to meet with, but I do not believe they interfere with adult birds ; snakes, lizards and frogs are all acceptable. The last named in captivity at least they treat in a singular manner. Hold- ing down the unlucky frog with one fore foot, they literally scrub it to death with the palm of the other foot ; the object being apparently to get rid of the secretion of slime. I tried my badgers one day with the carcase (without skin and skull) of an old polecat which had died extremely fat. They were not very hungry, and a good choice of other food was offered at the same time. Both badgers came up and smelt the polecat, and seemed at first not much to like it, but after a minute or two the female in preference to the other varieties of food, seized the carcase and began devour- ing the intestines with evident relish. Next morning not a vestige of the polecat was to be found. Wasp and bee grubs and honeycomb are appreciated as usually credited to them, and I have also no doubt they eat certain kinds of vegetable food green corn for one but what the ' various roots ' are that books always say they dig up, I am not botanist enough to know, though I do not for a moment doubt the fact. Mr. Harting in his article already alluded to (Zoologist, 1888) enumerates ' roots of various kinds, the bulbs of the wild hyacinth, earth-nuts, beech-mast, acorns, fungus, blackberries.' In captivity they will eat all ordinary kinds of vegetables boiled. Mr. W. Uthwatt writes to me :

The idea that they drive away foxes is absurd, there are hundreds of places where they have lived together for centuries. Neither is there any proof that they interfere with game, as there are never any remains found that could be attributed to them, either in their burrows or other haunts. They like a dry sandy soil the best, by the side of a hill, as this makes it easier digging. They have been called the ' pioneers of fox-earths and the natural miners of the country.'

A curious point in their anatomy is in the articular part of the glenoid fossa on the skull, which receives the condyle of the lower jaw on each side. The edges of these articular parts are so prolonged and curled over the condyles as to effectually clasp them in place ; and even in a macerated skull the lower man- dible of an adult cannot be detached. The digging powers of a badger are marvellous. In soft ground they can bury themselves in a very few minutes. Visiting a pair of badgers in my possession, late one night, I found the female more than her own depth underground, though the floor of the cage was composed of paving bricks set in cement and bedded on concrete. One of a pair of these animals formerly in my collection, aged eleven, was found lying dead on the floor of the outer part of the cage ; its abdomen was such an enormous size that I supposed it was the female that had died in parturition, and was surprised to find that it was the male. The enormous distention of the abdomen was caused by a hydatid cyst in the liver, making that organ quite half as large as a football. Presumably the badger had swallowed an egg of tapeworm with the intestines of a rabbit, and not proving a suitable ' host ' for that pest, the scolex had revenged itself by inflating itself, and the unlucky badger's liver, into this huge hydatid.

19. Otter. Lutra lutra, Linn.

BellLutra vulgaris.

Owing to the entire southern boundary of the county being formed by the Thames, whose waters with their bends flow for nearly thirty miles within its confines, the county boundary being as a rule in mid-stream, otters are fairly well represented. Were it not for the big river affording a certain measure of shelter and opportunities for reproduction, otters would be very scarce in the county ; for as Mr. W. Uthwatt of Great Linford Manor, Master of the Bucks Otter Hounds, to whom I am indebted for some most inter- esting notes on the species in the county, quoted in due course, writes :

The smaller rivers are supplied with otters from the deep waters of the Thames and Ouse. It Js disgraceful the way that otters are trapped and shot on the Thames, on account of the ignorant prejudice that they harm the fishing. A couple of swans will do more harm to fish than twenty otters. If they are killed on the big waters, the smaller waters cannot be supplied, for this is only done by otters travelling, they do not stay in one place long.

I am happy to say that the secretary of the Thames Conservancy in response to a request I made him in 1903, at the suggestion of Mr. C. Barnett, of Mill End, Hambleden, has now forbidden the lock-keepers and other men in their employ to trap otters.

Mr. Uthwatt considers that in North Bucks ' there are not more than one or two

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/206


text:
Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/207

Rh otters to 10 miles of stream.' In the Upper Thames I should be inclined to say that there must be fully one otter to every 5 miles of river, which is a somewhat higher estimate than that for the north of the county. A curious fact about otters, which seems only to have been realized of late years, is that they breed at any time of year, although they do not have more than one litter in about a twelve- month. Certain animals, such as some of the rodents, breed nearly all the year round under favourable conditions ; and the gray- seal breeds exclusively in the autumn, which appears also to be the custom of the dor- mouse, though rather earlier, and with greater range of date ; while for a wild animal only reproducing about once in twelve months, to have no special season, appears to be a unique arrangement. The female otter comes in season with the greatest regularity every month from the time she is ten months old. The most common number of young in my own experience is two, but frequently three, a larger number being exceptional ; but Mr. Uthwatt says, ' Three is about the usual number of the litter, though they often have four or five, and occasionally six.'

My friend Mr. Thomas Southwell, M.B.O.U., F.Z.S., was the first really to grasp the fact that otters have young at any time of year, and published notes on it in the Zoologist for 1877 (p. i 72) and 1888 (p. 248) ; the first of these being a reply to a note of mine in the same volume (p. 100). It may now be asserted with some confidence that while the young are born during any month of the year, yet that more litters are born between October and February, both inclu- sive, than during the remaining seven months of the year. Mr. Uthwatt says on this point : ' They breed all the year round, but probably more cubs are born in January, February, and March, than at any other time.' Though differing most reluctantly from one with so great a practical experience, I believe this is not the case.

I have noticed by observation of otters in captivity, that the females when in season have a curious habit, which seems to be designed to attract the attention of any pass- ing male. This is that they collect little mouthfuls of short straws and deposit them here and there. In a state of liberty short bents or dead aquatic plants would doubtless be substituted for the straws ; but outside a cage these little tufts would be very difficult for a human eye to recognize. Having once noticed this habit among my otters in cap- tivity, it is now easy to tell when one is in season, without further observation. I began keeping otters in captivity in 1869, and during the last thirty years have, with one short in- terval of a few months, kept them continu- ously, seldom having fewer than two in my possession at any one time, and sometimes a larger number.

The story of the breeding of a litter in my collection was told originally in a note pub- lished in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1 88 1, p. 249 ; repeated with additions in the Zoologist, 1882 (p. 20 1) ; and also copied into the Live Stock Journal in the former year. The facts noted are briefly as follows : Pair- ing took place while swimming in the tank early on 12 August, and after a gestation of sixty-one days (during the last ten or twelve of which the female was obviously gravid) young were born on the afternoon of 12 October. The mother had been hand-reared with a feeding-bottle, and was extremely tame, so I ventured to look at the cubs on the 25th (when thirteen days old), finding them to be two in number and about 8 inches in total length. Though the mother made not the smallest objection to my looking at the cubs, yet on returning to them her instinct came in, and within a couple of hours she transferred them to the other bed-box. From that day they were constantly (often daily) shifted backwards and forwards from one box to the other. They were in every case I think removed by the most direct route across the tank ; and the greater part of the way they were under water, being carried by the scruff of the neck. They were blind for about thirty days. On 9 December, when they were eight weeks two days old, they first voluntarily emerged from the shelter of the bed-box and made a little tour of inspec- tion of the cage (about 28 feet long) ; they went into the water both intentionally and accidentally as was supposed. One had hung half out of the box four days previously. The next day I first saw the mother carry fish into the box, to try to tempt the cubs to begin a more solid diet ; and on the afternoon of the same day the cubs were anxious to take a little walk, but the mother hearing the garden men grubbing some bushes, in spite of her extreme lameness, felt nervous on their behalf, and would not allow them out of shelter. She kept pulling them back as first one and then the other crawled towards the exit. At last losing patience with one which was specially insubordinate, she seized it by the side of the neck and carried it to the tank, in which she gave it a thorough sousing and thence straight back to bed, where, after a further short demonstration of independence, it subsided. Two days later, one of the cubs

title: Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/207


text:
Page:Weird Tales volume 42 number 04.djvu/49

 Libré, to Don José, to the lovely Noña Juanita. Then, blushing very prettily, but in nowise disconcerted, she consented to sing them a farewell.

she sang,

Sabers flashed in the moonlight, blades beat upon the table. "Juanita! Juanita!" they cried fervently. "We love you, Juanita!"

"And I love you—all of you—señores amados," she called gaily back. "Each one of you I love so much I could not bear to give my heart to him for fear of hurting all the others. So"—her throaty, velvet voice was like a caress—"here is what I promise." Her tone sank to a soft ingratiating pizzacato and her words were delicately spaced, so that they shone like minted silver as she spoke them. "I shall belong to the last one of you. Surely one of you will outlive all the rest, and to him I shall give my heart, myself, all of me. I swear it!" She put both tiny hands against her lips and blew them a collective kiss.

And so, because they all were very young, and very much in love, and also slightly drunk, they formed the Last Man Qub, and every year upon the anniversary of that night they met, talked over old times, drank a little more than was good for them, and dispersed to meet again next year.

HE years slipped by unnoticed as the current of a placid river. And time was good to them. Some of them made names for themselves in finance, the court rooms echoed to the oratory of others; the first World Wax brought rank and glory to jome; more than one nationally advertised product bore the name of one of their number. But time took his fee, also. Each time there were more vacant chairs about the table when they met, and those who remained showed gray at the temples, thickening at the waist, or shining patches of bald scalp. Last year there had been only three of them: Mycroft, Rice and Hardy. Two months ago he and Hardy had acted as pallbearers for Rice, now Hardy was gone.

He hardly knew what made him decide to consult Toussaint. The day before he'd met Dick Prior at luncheon at the India House and somehow talk had turned on mediums and spiritism. "I think they're all a lot of fakes," Mycroft had said, but Prior shook his head in disagreement.

"Some of 'em—most, probably—are, but there are some things hard to explain, Roger. Take this Negro, Toussaint. He may be a faker, but—"

"What about him?"

"Well, it seems he's a Haitian; there's a legend he's descended from Christophe, the Black Emperor. I wouldn't know about that, or whether what they say about his having been a papaloi—a voodoo priest, you know—has any basis. He's highly educated, graduate of Lima and the Sorbonne and all that—"

"What's he done?" Mycroft demanded testily. "You say he's done remarkable things—"

"He has. Remember Old Man Meson, Noble Meson, and the way his first wife made a monkey out of her successor?"

Mycroft shook his head. "Not very well. I recall there was a will contest—"

"I'll say there was. Old Meson got bit by the love-bug sometime after sixty. Huh, love-bug me eye, it was that little gold digger Suzanne Langdon. The way she took him away from his wife was nothing less than petty larceny. He didn't last long after he divorced Dorothy and married Suzanne. Old men who marry young wives seldom do. When he finally pegged out everybody thought he was intestate, and that meant Mrs. Meson number two would take the jackpot, but just as she was all set to rake in the chips Dorothy came up with a last


text:
Talk:A Book of Nursery Rhymes/Part II

Transclusion missing Index pages [djvu] 53 to 74. To note also that p. 53 (index) is missing images. Londonjackbooks (talk) 00:45, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

title: Talk:A Book of Nursery Rhymes/Part II