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Rh winter, keeping to their familiar haunts and being comparatively tame where they are not persecuted. In autumn and spring however great numbers pass through on migration. As a rule it is easy to distinguish them from our own home-birds, as they keep in flocks and are very shy, though in severe weather they are bolder. In the Thames valley the song-thrush is often called ' thrasher ' and ' throstle.'

3. Redwing. Turdus iliacus, Linn.

A fairly common, sometimes very numerous winter visitor, generally arriving about the middle of October. Mr. H. Cocks reports a specimen shot at Harleyford on July 28, 1871.

4. Fieldfare. Turdus pilaris, Linn.

A common winter visitor, but like most migrants much more numerous in some years than in others. We have not as a rule seen them before the end of October, but much earlier dates have been recorded. In the Thames valley, along the borders of Bucking- hamshire and Berkshire, it is called ' pigeon felt 'or 'blue felt.'

5. Blackbird. Turdus merula, Linn.

One of the most numerous birds in the county. Pied varieties are not rare. We are sceptical with regard to supposed hybrids of blackbird and thrush. Such birds were offered to the Tring Museum which had been exhibited at one of the Crystal Palace shows and there pronounced to be hybrids, but when we examined them, we found them merely to be freshly moulted, well coloured female blackbirds.

7. Ring-Ouzel. Turdus torquatus, Linn.

This species passes through on the autumnal migration as early as the middle of Septem- ber. We have several times seen it near Tring close to the border of Buckingham- shire, and several specimens have been ob- tained near Tring, therefore we believe it to be less rare than it is supposed. Our actual records for Buckinghamshire are, however, very few. One male, shot at Wingrave November 4, 1896, is in the Tring Museum, and Mr. H. Cocks informs us that one was ' shot near Chequers about ten years ago,' and another ' killed at Stoke Mandeville at least as long ago as 1887.' The Rev. Hubert Astley has sometimes observed it amongst juniper bushes near Chequers Court and Wendover during the autumnal migration. Clark Kennedy mentions a specimen shot at Risborough in 1840, and says that the Rev. B. Burgess saw one near Chesham on Septem- ber 9, 1862. A pair was observed during the same autumn near Wendover. In 1865 a male was killed near Burnham, and accord- ing to the Rev. H. H. Crewe a few can be observed during the migration periods near Drayton Beauchamp.

7. Wheatear. Saxicola aenanthe (Linn.).

In the cultivated fields and parks this bird is not met with, except occasionally when passing through on migration, but on com- mons, stony hillsides and such like places it breeds not uncommonly. The Rev. Hubert D. Astley informs us that on the sides of Coombe Hill (Chiltern Range), near Wend- over, a few pairs rear their broods every year, also on chalk hills above Princes Risborough, in the vicinity of Whiteleaf Cross. Mr. Arthur Goodson has seen it on a high railway bank near Buckingham in the breeding season, E. Hartert not far from Halton, where it also breeds on the chalky hills, and where eggs have been taken by boys and seen by us.

8. Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.).

Somewhat locally distributed, as it is a bird of the pasture land and fond of the neighbour- hood of rivers and streams, and does not breed, as a rule, on dry hills away from pastures. It occurs sparingly along the Thames ; a few nest in the Vale of Chesham, near Aylesbury, Burnham Beeches, Buckingham and Halton reservoirs. Hartert found it less rare along the river Ouse, especially near Castlethorpe. The Rev. H. D. Astley reports it as 'sometimes seen on the hedges near Chequers Court.' It breeds not rarely on suitable railway embank- ments, if they are well covered with grass. A real summer bird, not arriving before the end of April or first days of May.

9. Stonechat. Pratincola rubicola (Linn.).

The stonechat is if anything more numer- ous than the whinchat, though both can at certain places be found nesting close to- gether. The stonechat is more partial to open commons covered with furze, on dry hills and among the gorse by the roadside. It therefore nests not uncommonly in most places along the Chiltern Hills, where we have frequently observed them. The Rev. H. D. Astley found it nesting near Wendover, where gorse abounds. Mr. Grossman ' found it not uncommon on Farnham Common and on a common between Chesham and Amer- sham,' and met it in some numbers on the road between Amersham and Wycombe, and we have at various times seen it on the road from Aylesbury to Buckingham and near

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Rh Aston Clinton and Halton. Although not a regular migrant, we hardly think that it stays throughout really cold weather in Bucks and Herts. Sir John van Hatten records it as being shot by Mr. F. Sanders on November 15, 1774, near Dinton Hall, Aylesbury.

10. Redstart. Ruticilla phaenicurus (Linn.).

The redstart is apparently not as common as it is in many other counties, and rather locally distributed. It is however a regular breeder in many places, especially near rivers and streams, where willows and other suitable trees offer good opportunities for breeding. Nests are found, though this is not frequent, in holes of walls. We have both observed several pairs in and near Stowe Park ; Hartert has seen it on the river Ouse, and the late Lionel Wiglesworth informed him that it was a common breeder in willow trees near Castlethorpe. We have seen it rarely near Walton and Aylesbury. Mr. Heatley Noble tells us that it breeds every year on the hill by Fawley village. The Rev. Hubert Astley reports it as nesting regularly on the Chequers Court estate, where in two cases holes under eaves of keepers' houses were chosen for the nest. Grossman and Hartert observed it in June at Burnham Beeches, where it appears not to be rare.

11 . Redbreast. Erithacus rubecula (Linn.).

(We are of opinion that the more correct name of the British form of the redbreast is Erithacus rubecula melophilus, Hart. The above name (E. rubecula) should strictly only be used for the continental form, which has the throat of a paler red and the back not so deep rufous brown. See Novit. Zool. 1901, p. 317)

One of the commonest birds everywhere throughout the year. We have not noticed any migration in this bird, neither do our birds apparently leave us as a rule, nor have we seen an influx of migrants. Specimens obtained at various times of the year and others closely observed belonged all to the British race. Some months ago a German lady during a visit to England remarked that she had been pleased with the frequency and tameness of the robins, and that they in Eng- land deserved the name ' redbreast ' much more than those on the continent, which were not half so red and bright. This un- sophisticated statement of a person ignorant of ornithology is rather striking, as it agrees with our view on the distinctness of the British race. Mr. A. Heneage Cocks writes : 'A nest was found on the ground under dead fern on April 14, 1886. A fern pushing up from beneath had rendered the bottom of the nest convex, so that the eggs got arranged in single file round the edge. On the 22nd I removed two eggs which had fallen through the bottom of the nest.'

12. Nightingale. Daulias luscinia (Linn.).

Though unaccountably local, the nightin- gale is seldom absent on low, fertile ground, especially if water is near. It is mostly absent from high dry ground, though sometimes it takes up its residence in such places. The Rev. Hubert Astley found a pair nesting in a hedge bordering a road leading to an out-of- the-way farmhouse in the vicinity of beech woods with very little undergrowth. W. found it more common near Castlethorpe, Buckingham and Newport Pagnell.

13. Whitethroat. Sylvia cinerea (Bechstein).

From the middle or end of April one of the commonest birds in hedgerows, gardens, woods and commons. The eggs vary most wonderfully, though we have not seen any very unusual varieties from Buckinghamshire.

14. Lesser Whitethroat. Sylvia curruca (Linn.).

Arrives generally between April 15 and 2O. Hartert has seen it in full song on April 16. A more or less common bird almost everywhere in similar places, but not as abundant as the common whitethroat.

15. Blackcap. Sylvia atricapilla (Linn.).

In suitable localities, viz. well wooded parks and woods with undergrowth, this beautiful songster is common. The majority arrive about the middle of April, but Hartert has heard it in full song on April 10. The pink varieties of the eggs are much rarer than the brown ones.

16. Garden-Warbler. Sylvia hortensis (Bechstein).

From the end of April or beginning of May this warbler may be found generally distri- buted in quiet, well-wooded parks, gardens and woods all over the county, but it is no doubt much rarer than the blackcap, and not so easily seen, though its song is often to be heard. Grossman and Hartert have observed it near Chesham, Beaconsfield, Burnham, Castlethorpe and Mentmore. The Rev. Hubert D. Astley calls it common in gardens at the foot of the Chiltern Hills.

17. Goldcrest. Regulus cristatus, Koch.

(The more correct name of this species, in our opinion, is Regulus regulus, as Linnæus

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Rh described it under the name of Motacilla regulus.)

Frequently seen in winter, but also breeding wherever a sufficient number of conifers invite its residence. The nest hangs beneath the extremity of a branch of fir, cedar, or rarely a yew, but Mr. A. H. Cocks noticed in May 1883 a nest, the young of which were hatched and reared in the ivy on a tree in his garden. It was not placed as usual at the extremity of a branch, but in the ivy on the stem, immediately underneath one of the largest branches.

18. Firecrest. Regulus ignicapillus (C. L. Brehm). This irregular and rare visitor to our islands must be included in the birds of Buckinghamshire on account of the following occurrence, which we quote with Mr. Alfred Heneage Cocks' own words: ' In the sixties, probably about 1863 and most likely during one of the periods of school holidays, my brother noticed a little bird which kept flitting about a branchy tree in our garden at Great Marlow without flying away from it. My brother began throwing stones at it, and seeing what a pretty bird it was, I joined him. Shortly afterwards the gardener joined, and presently he succeeded in knocking it over. Fortunately I had it stuffed, but it was not until a number of years later that I discovered it was a firecrest.'

19. Chiffchaff. Phylloscopus rufus (Bechstein). Common in suitable localities, breeding in wooded gardens, parks and woods, and also passing through during the autumnal migration.

20. Willow-Warbler. Phylloscopus trochilus (Linn.).

Generally distributed in summer, and as common as the chiffchaff. Migrants pass through in autumn. We have not noticed either this species or the chiffchaff in the winter months, nor even after the end of October.

21. Wood -Warbler. Phylloscopus sibilatrix )Bechstein). The wood-wren or wood~warbler bears its name rightly, for it breeds only where woods, principally of beech and oak, are found. In such localities however it is generally common in the county. We have found it in many of the beech woods in the Chiltern Hills. Mr. Grossman writes us: ' This species was formerly and is no doubt still fairly plentiful in Burnham Beeches, and I have heard it in many of the woods between that place and Ashley Green on the borders of the county.' The Rev. Hubert D. Astley calls it common near Wendover.

22. Reed - Warbler. Acrocephalus streperus (Vieillot).

Not rare; and generally abundant, where reed abounds. On the Thames, the rivers Ouse and Colne, the reservoirs near Halton, and in the osiers on large ponds. The eggs of the cuckoo are frequently found in the reed-warbler's nest. The nest is not always placed among the reeds, but sometimes some distance away from the water in bushes in gardens.

23. Sedge-Warbler. Acrocephalus phragmitis (Bechstein).

Found commonly in most parts of the county where banks of streams, rivers and ponds with a luxuriant vegetation afford opportunities for its nesting, and sometimes in thick hedgerows with nettles, willowbushes and such-like localities, mostly near the water.

24. Grasshopper -Warbler. Locustella nævia (Boddaert).

Generally distributed, though apparently nowhere numerous. The late Lionel Wiglesworth observed it near Castlethorpe. We have seen eggs from near Aylesbury, and heard its curious song near Halton and Mentmore. Mr. Grossman found it on Farnham Common, Clark Kennedy records it from Chesham, High Wycombe and Drayton Beauchamp.

25. Savi's Warbler. Locustella luscinioides (Savi).

In Saunders' Manual of British Birds, ed. 2 (1899), p. 92, we read: 'There is some evidence that this species was noticed in May, 1897, in the Humber district, as well as near Olney, Bucks.' E. Hartert wrote to Mr. Saunders for more information, and the latter kindly replied as follows: ' In reply to your inquiry about the supposed occurrence of Savi's warbler near Olney, Bucks, I have to say that my informant was Mr. C. J. Wilson, M.B.O.U., an old friend of mine and an exceedingly good field-ornithologist. The bird, the note, the locality, all tended so strongly to show that the bird was a Savi's warbler that I put it in print. There is no other record.' One of us wrote to Mr. Wilson himself, and this gentleman assures us that he is fully convinced that the ' Savi's warbler is a just record,' as the bird was close to him for some minutes.

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Rh 26. Hedge - Sparrow. Accentor madularis' (Linn.).

One of the commonest birds everywhere. A perfectly white hedge-sparrow was taken sitting on eggs, in April 1848, near Drayton Beauchamp (H. H. Crewe, Zoologist, 1848, p. 2143). A very pale example was caught at Wingrave near Aylesbury on June 2O, 1900, and is now in the Tring Museum. It is a young bird of the year. It is buff with brownish centres to the feathers above and on the breast and throat, the tail is creamy white, quills white with reddish buff outer edges, abdomen white.

[Dipper. Cinclus aquaticus, Bechstein.

The British dipper differing somewhat from the continental forms or has correctly been separated by Tschusi under the name of Cinelus cinclus britannicus. Buckinghamshire not possessing rapidly-running mountain streams, which are the dipper's home, it cannot be of regular occurrence, and we have no recent records of it. In former times Yarrell stated that it had occurred on the Colne, near Wraysbury, which is on the borders of Buckinghamshire. According to Gould it has been obtained on the Chess, and the Rev. H. Harpur Crewe said that he had observed one on the canal near Drayton Beauchamp (Clark Kennedy, p. 170).]

27. British Long-tailed Titmouse. Acredula rosea (Blyth).

(In the History of Herts, ' Birds,' p. 199, the British long-tailed tit is called A, caudata. It is true that Mr. Saunders on p. 5 of his list, from which is taken the nomenclature in the Victoria History of the Counties, puts the ' white headed long-tailed tit ' and the ' British longtailed tit ' in brackets, as if their distinctness was questionable, but they are perfectly distinct species, and the British form, the only one nesting in the British Islands, must not be called A. caudata)

A. rosea, occasionally called ' bottle-tit,' is not a rare bird. It breeds in woods, parks, gardens and thick old hedges. In winter it goes about in small flocks. The continental species, A. caudata, has not to our knowledge been observed in Buckinghamshire.

28. Great Titmouse. Parus major, Linn. The commonest of our tits in the county, and to be met with all the year round.

29. Coal-Tit. Parus ater, Linn. (The more correct name of the British coaltit is P. ater britannicus. The British coal-tit is easily distinguishable by its brownish, not pure bluish-grey, upperside.)

Not rare, but much more conspicuous in winter, when it generally goes about in flocks, and rambles about over a good deal of ground in search of food, while in the breeding season it does not move far from its home. The suggestion of Mr. Grossman, that 'we have a large immigration ' in winter is not borne out by our observations, as we have never yet seen a specimen of the continental form (true P. ater) from Buckinghamshire or Hertfordshire.

30. Marsh-Tit. Parus palustris, Linn.

(The more correct name of the British marsh-tit is P. palustris dresseri.)

Also by no means rare, though not nesting in very great numbers. (We have no record of the occurrence of the rarer ' willow tit,' which, though a distinct species, is not mentioned in the recent books of Messrs. Saunders and Harting.)

31. Blue Tit. Parus cæruleus, Linn.

Common. Next to the great titmouse, apparently the commonest of our tits in the county.

32 . Nuthatch. Sitta cæsia, Wolf.

(The correct name of the British nuthatch, in our opinion, is S. europæa britannica, Hartert. The central European form, which should be called S. europæa cæssia, has a much more richly coloured underside.)

Not uncommon in all well timbered parts woods, parks and larger gardens; but curiously enough many people are not very familiar with this bird. Mr. Grossman found it particularly common in Burnham Beeches.

33. Wren. Troglodytes parvulus, Koch.

(We would prefer the name Olbiorchilus troglodytes, Linnæus. It is in our opinion a pity to set Linnæus' names aside. The wren is here between the nuthatch and treecreeper in our opinion in an unsystematic position.)

The wren is a very common bird all over the county.

34. Tree-Creeper. Certhia familiaris, Linn.

(The more correct name of the British treecreeper, which is easily distinguishable from the typical Swedish C. familiaris, is C. familiaris britannica, Stejn. Cf. Novit. Zool. 1897, pp. 136-40.)

Not at all rare, but often overlooked, being rather inconspicuous and silent. Its pretty, but not at all very loud song is often heard

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Rh as early as January and February. The nest is nearly always placed behind loose bark on old trees, sometimes also under the eaves of a building.

35. Pied Wagtail. Motacilla lugubris, Temminck.

The pied wagtail, often called 'dishwasher,' is nowhere rare. Generally migratory, single pairs are nevertheless sometimes seen in most months of the year. At Great Marlow a pair nested last year (1901) in a very small birdcage standing empty out of doors. The eggs were found on May 28, and the young were safely hatched and flew on June 12 (H. H. Cocks in litt.).

36. White Wagtail. Motacilla alba, Linn.

E. Hartert observed a pair feeding its young on June 17, 1902, on the river Chess below Latimer. In the vicinity, not more than 300 or 400 yards away, M. lugubris was apparently nesting.

37. Yellow Wagtail. Motacilla raii (Bonaparte).

A regular summer bird wherever there are suitable meadows. Generally arriving about the middle of April. Very fond of grazing sheep and cattle, in the proximity of which it is nearly always found in autumn in search of insects.

38. Grey Wagtail. Motacilla melanope, Pallas.

(This species was named M. boarula by Linæus before Pallas named the eastern form M. melanope. The latter has a shorter tail and is to be called M. boarula melanope, the European form M. boarula, Linn.)

The grey wagtail is a somewhat rare bird in winter and autumn. We have seen it near Marsworth at those seasons; the Rev. H. D. Astley saw it near Chequers Court. On the banks of the Thames it has often been noticed. Clark Kennedy (p. 26) writes: ' I was rather surprised to be informed by the Rev. Bryant Burgess of Latimer, Chesham, that this wagtail annually makes its nest and rears its young on the river Chess, where it seems to be a summer visitor.' We have been on the look-out for this bird, but did not find it near Latimer.

39. Tree-Pipit. Anthus trivialis (Linn.).

Common all over the county.

40. Meadow-Pipit. Anthus pratensis (Linn.).

Not rare on lowland pastures. Mr. Crossman informs us that a few pairs are always to be found on Farnham Common, where they nest. We have found it nesting near Halton, Aylesbury, Buckingham, Castlethorpe, and Hartert saw it at Burnham Beeches. It is also common near Eton. The Rev. H. D. Astley has sometimes seen flocks on the hills during the autumn migration.

41 . Golden Oriole. Oriolus galbula, Linn.

A male was shot at Stoke Mandeville on May 19, 1897 (White, Field, 1879). Mr. Alfred Heneage Cocks writes (in litt.): 'This bird has been reported to have nested about three miles north from here in 1901, the nest and eggs having been taken; but I cannot answer for it personally.' Clark Kennedy writes (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 171): 'A nest of this bird is said to have been found near Burnham.'

42. Great Grey Shrike. Lanius excubitor, Linn.

A somewhat rare winter visitor. It was shot on January 8, 1778, near Dinton Hall. A female was shot near Wendover about the middle of November 1864, and a male on November 4 of the same year at Weston Turville (H. Harpur Crewe, Zoologist, 1865, p. 9416). 'In 1862 a fine male was shot by a son of the Rev. M. Gore, near the almshouses at Stoke. Some time ago, while looking over a collection of birds shot by Mr. G. Lillywhite of Eton Wick, Buckinghamshire, I was agreeably surprised to find a fine example of the great grey shrike. It was shot on the banks of the Thames, not far from Windsor, in the winter of 1865-6, and was stuffed by Mr. Drye of Eton. Another, in the collection of the Rev. Bryant Burgess, was killed a few years since at Hampden ' (Clark Kennedy, Birds of Bucks and Berks, p. 169). Hartert saw one in October 1895 near Halton.

43. Red-backed Shrike. Lanius collurio, Linn.

Found in summer in all parts of the county, though generally by no means as numerous as it might be. It mostly frequents tall uncut hedges, but does not breed where no tall hedges or other tall thorn-bushes offer it suitable breeding places. It is common near Eton, Eton Wick, etc. Mr. Grossman saw it frequently in many parts of south Bucks. The late Lionel Wiglesworth and Hartert found it not uncommon near Castlethorpe; the latter has seen it near Chesham, Cheddington, Buckingham, Aylesbury, Dinton and Newport Pagnell. The Rev. H. D. Astley

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Rh found it not rare about Chequers Court, and we have observed it regularly every year near Aston Clinton, Halton and Weston Turville. Mr. A. Heneage Cocks found it plentiful in the parish of Hambledon of recent years. He generally noticed it on small trees in hedgerows. It is mostly known as the 'butcher bird.'

44. Waxwing. Ampelis garrulus, Linn.

This irregular winter visitor appears very seldom in the midland counties. Clark Kennedy writes: ' An immense flock appeared along the eastern shores of our island in the winter of 1849-50, which was very severe, and several specimens were at that time procured in different parishes in Buckinghamshire. I am indebted to the Rev. Bryant Burgess for the notice of a Bohemian waxwing which was killed at Ivinghoe Aston in January 1850, and which is now in his collection. An immense number of Bohemian waxwings were shot in the neighbourhood of Buckingham during the spring of 1867, as Mr. J. W. Thorpe told me ' (Birds of Berks and Bucks, 1868, p. 174).

45. Pied Flycatcher. Muscicapa atricapilla, Linn.

We have very few records of this somewhat rare bird, though we have no doubt that it frequently passes through the county on migration, and perhaps even nests more or less regularly. According to Morris it has once been killed within the county, many years ago, and Clark Kennedy, on the authority of Captain Elwes, mentions a nest with eggs being taken near Eton in the summer of 1860 (Birds of Berks and Bucks, 1868, p. 169). Mr. Heatley Noble wrote to us: ' A nest with six eggs was taken on my late father's property, Berry Hill, Taplow, in June 187- (the exact year cannot be given). The female was unfortunately killed on the nest.' Mr. H. Heneage Cocks writes: ' On May 12, 1883, our gardener at Great Marlow saw in our orchard a bird with white on the wings, which, from its movements and other habits, must have been a flycatcher. He said it looked somewhat like a female chaffinch, but the beak was different. Sir J. A. Godley, K.C.B., reported several years before to have seen one specimen there. Two days afterwards the gardener saw evidently the pair, but though I watched for them repeatedly I did not see them, nor were they ever seen again.' On May 10, 1901, E. Hartert heard its unmistakable and to him familiar note and saw the male at Mentmore, and he has no doubt that the bird was breeding there, though he could not find the nest.

46. Spotted Flycatcher. Musicapa grisola. Linn.

A very common bird everywhere. One of the latest arrivals in spring.

47. Swallow. Hirundo rustica, Linn.

Very common everywhere. They generally arrive in the second week of April or even later, but sometimes earlier. Clark Kennedy reported a pair being seen on April I, 1867, near Eton in Bucks. Sometimes they also remain exceptionally late, namely till October 20, and even into November. In Loudon's Magazine of Natural History it is stated that Mr. F. G. Tatem observed two swallows at High Wycombe on November 22. Enormous quantities are sometimes seen on the Thames before their departure. In Novitates Zoologicæ, vols. i. ii., one of us has recorded interesting facts about a pair of swallows in Aylesbury which hatched for several successive years some white young ones among the usual dark ones. In May 1891 four white swallows were hatched and flew away. In 1892 one was hatched in the same nest, the rest were said to have been of the usual colour. In 1893 the nest contained two white and two regularly coloured young. In 1894 two white and two regularly coloured ones. In 1894 another nest containing two white females and two or three dark birds was found in the same town. In 1895 the pair bred twice. The first time it had three white and two black ones, the second time it had four black young and one white. On August 6, 1895, a white swallow was seen a mile from Aylesbury by Arthur Goodson. Colonel Goodall often saw a white swallow in September 1901 in the parish of Dinton. He made inquiries and found that three white swallows were hatched in the same nest in 1899 at Broughton, and that one was hatched in 1900, another in 1901 at Waterstock, Oxon.

48. House-Martin. Chelidon urbica (Linn.).

Though a very common bird it is absent from many villages where one would expect to see it. The Rev. H. Harpur Crewe has reported having seen a martin ' merrily hawking for flies for about half an hour ' at Hartwell near Aylesbury on December 5, 1874. The house-martin does not, as a rule, arrive before the middle of April, but Mr. Clark has seen a pair in the last week of March near Eton in Bucks. The same ornithologist has also noticed the martin as late as October

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Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Pennsylvania

PENNSYLVANIA, one of the original thirteen States of the North American Union, lying between 39° 43' and 42° 15' N. lat., and between 74° 40' and 80° 36' W. long., is 160 miles wide, and more than 300 miles long from east to west. Its northern, southern, and western border-lines were meant to be straight; the eastern follows the course of the Delaware river. It is bounded by the States of New York and New Jersey on the N. and E., by Ohio on the W., and by Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia on the S. At its north-west corner a small triangular addition gives it a shore-line of 40 miles, with one good harbour, on Lake Erie. At its south-eastern corner, a circle of 10 miles radius (struck from the court-house at Newcastle) throws a small area into the State of Delaware. Its surface, subdivided into sixty-seven counties, measures nearly 28,800,000 acres or 45,000 square miles; less than one-half of its acreage is in cultivated farms, and only 1,000,000 of the people live in separate farm-houses. Out of a population of 4,283,000, nearly 2,000,000 lived in towns and cities in 1880, and more than 2,000,000 in country hamlets or factory villages, at iron mines and furnaces, at coal-mines and coke-ovens, at lumber-camps and oil-wells, or along the many lines of canal and railroad which traverse the State in all directions.

Physical Features.—Pennsylvania is topographically divisible into three parts: a south-east district, the open country between the South Mountains and the sea; a middle belt of parallel valleys separated by low parallel mountain-ridges; and a northern and western upland, behind the escarpment of the Alleghany Mountain. One and a half millions of its people inhabit the fertile and highly-cultivated south eastern triangle, which is nowhere more than 600 or 700 feet above the level of the sea. One million inhabit the middle belt of higher-lying valleys, rich in iron ore and anthracite coal. One and a half millions occupy the great bituminous coal and oil regions of the northern and western counties, elevated from 1000 to 2500 feet above the sea,

which constitute at least one-half of the State, and drain, not eastward into the Atlantic, but northward into the St Lawrence and westward into the Mississippi.

The valleys of the middle belt are of two characters, distinguished by the farming population of the Atlantic States as “rich valleys” and “poor valleys.” The former, whether large or small, are completely enclosed and comparatively level arenas of limestone land, surrounded by rocky and wooded barriers, less than 1000 feet high, through narrow gaps in which streams enter or issue. A curiously sculptured slate-terrace, half the height of the encircling mountain, overlooks each of these secluded valleys. Their entire limestone floor has been under cultivation for a century, and the best iron-ore deposits of the State and its oldest mines are situated in them. They are gardens of fertility, yielding heavy crops of wheat, rye, and maize to the frugal, thrifty, and laborious descendants of their early settlers. Innumerable caverns ramify beneath the surface; sink-holes receive the drainage of the fields; many of the water courses appear and disappear beneath sunken arches of limestone; and wells are the chief source of supply. Old orchards and great planted trees abound, and more picturesque landscapes cannot be found. Nittany, the largest of these isolated valleys, occupies the centre of the State. It is 60 miles long, but its greatest width is only 10 miles; and it is subdivided at its north-eastern end by long projecting mountain-spurs into narrow parallel coves, each of which is known by a special name, Brush valley, Penn's valley, &c. Sinking Spring valley is at its south-western end, and here it is traversed by the Little Juniata river, along the banks of which runs the Pennsylvania Railroad. A narrow valley, called Canoe valley, leads southward into Morrison's cove, which is half as large as Nittany valley. The next largest limestone valley is Kishicoquilis, 40 miles long by 5 miles wide, ending southward in a point, and split at its north-east end into three. German Amish (Mennonite sect) and Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlers, separated by an ideal cross line, have made this valley famous for its loveliness and wealth. Farther south is M‘Connell's cove, west of this Friend's cove, and still farther west Millikin's cove. Two little oval holes in the mountains north-east of Nittany valley, Nippenose valley and Oval valley, and two long slit-like depressions in Tuscarora and Black Log Mountains conclude the short list of these remarkable limestone threshing-floors of Pennsylvania.

Across the whole State, however, stretches the Great Valley in a wide and gentle curve from east to south, one-half its surface covered with the soil of the terrace-slate, the other half with the same limestone soil which causes the exceptional fertility of the isolated valleys above enumerated. This very remarkable feature of the Atlantic side of the continent extends in an unbroken line for nearly 1000 miles, from eastern Canada to the lowlands of the Gulf of Mexico, only 150 miles of its length being in Pennsylvania, where its average width may be called 15 miles. Everywhere on its north-west side rises a sharp and regularly level-crested ridge, about 1000 feet high, heavily timbered. On its other or southern side a range of irregular mountain-land completely secludes the Great Valley from the seaboard, except for about 50 miles in Pennsylvania. This mountain-range is known in Vermont as the Green Mountains, in Massachusetts as the Taconic Mountains, in New York and New Jersey as the Highlands, in Pennsylvania and Maryland as the South Mountains, in Virginia as the Blue Ridge, in North Carolina as the Unaka or Smoky Mountains. In their northern extension they rise to heights of 3000 and 4000 feet; in the southern States they have summits from 4000 to 7000 feet above the sea. In Pennsylvania few parts of the range exceed 1500 feet; and at the broken

gap of 50 miles already mentioned the Great Valley limestone land protrudes southward through the interrupted range, to make of Lancaster the richest agricultural county in the State. Before the era of railways Lancaster county made the markets of Philadelphia the cheapest and most luxurious in the world. It was on this exceptional outspread of the Great Valley limestone that the Germans of the first immigration settled. The limestone plain of Lancaster spreads west across the Susquehanna river into York county, and east into Berks and Chester counties to within 20 miles of Philadelphia. The whole plain swarms with life; the houses are small, but the stone barns are of colossal size, 100 and even 150 feet long and from 30 to 50 feet high, the barnyard-wall supported on ranges of heavy columns, while on the other side of the building an earthen slope ascends to the great barn door.

The eight counties which lie along the face of the South Mountains, in the south-eastern region of the State, are in the highest state of cultivation, and resemble the most picturesque rural districts of England,—a country of rolling hills and gently sloping vales, with occasional rocky dells of no great depth, and low cascades utilized for grist-mills, factories, and machine shops; a country of wheat, rye, maize, potatoes, tobacco, turnip-fields, orchards, meadows, and patches of woodland; a country of flowing water, salubrious, fertile, and wealthy; dotted with hamlets, villages, and towns, and with the country-seats of affluent citizens. But the region as a whole is divisible into at least four districts, differing as much in population as in soil and situation. The counties of York and Adams, lying west of the Susquehanna river along the Maryland line, are inhabited by Germans, who for the most part still use the patois of their fatherland, mixed with English words and phrases. The counties of Montgomery and Bucks, lying between the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, have a mingled population of the descendants of Germans, Quakers, and French Huguenots. The hilly district of northern Chester is also partly German. Southern Lancaster, southern Chester, and Delaware counties support the most intelligent and virtuous population in the State, largely composed of the descendants of Penn's colonists, who have mostly escaped the narrowing and enervating influences of the city, and enjoy the mental and physical activity, the simplicity of manners, and the loyalty to truth, justice, and charity which characterized the Quakers at the origin of the sect in England. The district which they inhabit is a veritable fairyland, and its principal town, Westchester, has been for a long time one of the notable centres of scientific life in the State.

Climate.—The climate of so great a State is necessarily various, and is made more variable by its situation on the eastern side of the continent facing the Gulf Stream. The north-west wind is dry and cold in winter, the south-west wind always mild and rainy, and the south-east ocean wind wet and sultry in summer; but the dreaded north-easters of New England lose much of their rigour by the time they reach the Delaware. The northern highlands of the State are buried under 4 or 5 feet of snow four months of the year. The southern middle counties enjoy genial weather the whole year round, interrupted only by a few short intervals of intense heat or cold, never lasting more than three consecutive days. The midland valleys are very hot in midsummer and very cold in mid-winter, the thermometer ranging between 0° and 100°, with a not unfrequent sudden fall after a sultry week of 30° or 40° in a few hours, ending with thunderstorms, and followed by dry, clear, cool weather, with winds from the north-west. The climate of the south-western counties is comparatively dry and equable, but with a sufficient annual rainfall, and plenty of snow in winter, productive of great river-floods

in spring. The average annual rainfall ranges from 36 inches in the western counties to 42 inches at Philadelphia. Destructive “freshets” descend the eastern rivers when the ice breaks up; for the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers are almost every year frozen over from tide-water to their sources; thunderstorms happen in the midst of winter; the January thaw is always to be apprehended; and when heavy rains break up the ice and it accumulates in the gaps of the mountains, the main river-channels become scenes of inevitable disaster. In 1837 the valley of the Lehigh was swept clean for 60 miles, the dams and locks of the canal were all destroyed, and every bridge and mill disappeared. Along the lower Susquehanna the floating ice has often been piled upon the railroad embankment to the height of several yards. Even in midsummer a heavier downpour than usual in 1836 carried destruction through the valley of the Juniata. But the affluents of the Ohio river in the western part of the State are subject every year to this danger.

Geology.—For unknown geological reasons Pennsylvania is peculiar for exhibiting the Palæozoic system in its

maximum development, that is, from the Permian formation down to the base of Murchison's Lower Silurian, with a total thickness of more than 40,000 feet at the eastern outcrops, diminishing to half that amount in the western counties. As all the formations are thrown into great anticlinal and synclinal folds, and cut through transversely by the rivers, they can be measured along numerous continuous and conformable section lines. Near Harrisburg, at Pottsville, and at Mauch Chunk the Carboniferous, Devonian, and Upper Silurian rocks, standing vertical, show a cross section 5 miles thick. At the Delaware and Lehigh water-gaps the Lower Silurian slates are 6000 feet thick. In Canoe valley the underlying Lower Silurian limestones have been measured 6500 feet thick. In the south-western corner of the State about 1000 feet of Permian rocks overlie the Coal-measures proper. Thus the following Palæozoic column can be studied with peculiar advantages in Pennsylvania, many of its more important stages either becoming greatly attenuated or wholly disappearing when followed into the neighbouring States of New York, Ohio, and Virginia.

Geological Map of Pennsylvania.

The geology of south-eastern Pennsylvania is not understood. There can be no doubt that the copper-bearing porphyritic Huronian system is well represented in the South Mountains, south of the Chambersburg fault, on the borders of Maryland; but the systematic age of the gneisses, mica schists, garnetiferous schists, serpentine and chrome iron rocks, of the Philadelphia belt, commencing at Trenton,

crossing the Schuylkill river on a section line 15 miles wide, and extending through Delaware and Chester counties into Maryland, is still under discussion, some geologists considering them of pre-Cambrian age and others regarding them as metamorphosed Silurian rocks. They contain minute quantities of gold and are evidently a prolongation of the great gold-bearing belt of Virginia and the Carolinas.

 * (J. P. L.—C. G. A.)


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Rh 18. Mr. Alfred Heneage Cocks writes: 1 An extraordinary number, I should say about a million, was seen over the river and pool at Great Marlow opposite our house about 4 to 5 p.m. on September 18, 1896. Some hundreds were seen on October 7, 1899." An old bird and two young were seen by the same gentleman at Great Marlow on November 13, 14, and 15, 1889.

49. Sand-Martin. Cotile riparia (Linn.).

Breeds where there are suitable places for it, i.e. sand-pits, river-banks, etc. It is frequently seen on the Thames. Albinos are not frequent in this species. According to Clark Kennedy (p. 91) an albino was shot on the river near Marlow, by Mr. F. Wheeler, in August 1867. A whitish variety was shot just on the borders of Bucks near one of the Tring reservoirs on July 20, 1901. The upperside is pale greyish white, wings and tail slightly more greyish; underside white, the band across the chest hardly noticeable. The specimen was a male. The iris and pupil were of an almost colourless watery appearance, the feet were pale flesh-colour.

50. Greenfinch. Ligurinus Moris (Linn.).

Extremely common all the year round.

51. Hawfinch. Coccothraustes vulgaris, Pallas.

(We consider that the correct name is Coccothraustes coccothraustes [Linn.].)

Somewhat local and generally not common. Mr. Alfred Heneage Cocks writes: ' Its numbers are probably increasing. It nested just outside our garden at Great Marlow in 1890, and in 1891 about 30 feet high in a Scotch fir in our garden. For many years it has been nesting at Bisham Abbey near Great Marlow, Bucks.' Mr. Grossman says: 'This bird used to breed near Great Marlow, and is now to be found in increasing numbers in Burnham Beeches and the surrounding neighbourhood. I saw a number of these birds for two successive winters at Denham.' Mr. Kennedy records it breeding at Latimer near Chesham; the Rev. H. Harpur Crewe stated that a few pairs were breeding almost every year in the park at Hartwell House near Aylesbury. Near Chequers Court it is rare. We have seen it or had specimens from Halton, Cholesbury, St. Leonard's, Chesham and Stowe Park.

52. Goldfinch. Cardeulis elegans, Stephens.

(The correct name, in our opinion, would be Carduelis carduelis [Linn.].)

This bright-coloured bird is nowhere common. Though it is seen everywhere occasionally and breeds in limited numbers in many places it seems to decrease. Everybody complains about the professional birdtrappers. The Rev. H. D. Astley says that they spread their nets with decoys on the hills above Wendover, where the goldfinch is ' not nearly so numerous as twenty years ago.' We saw it occasionally near Cholesbury, Chesham, Aylesbury and Cheddington. Mr. Grossman has seen it only ' very occasionally ' in southern Buckinghamshire.

53. Siskin. Carduelis spinus (Linn.).

An irregular winter visitor, rare or unnoticed in some mild winters, generally more frequent in cold winters with much snow. In the hard winters of 1866-7 anc ' ^57 great numbers were seen and many were captured near Windsor. Bird-trappers often catch it.

54. House-Sparrow. Passer domesticus (Linn.).

Only too numerous everywhere. Albinos and pied varieties have been taken too frequently to enumerate them. Certainly one of our earlier breeders, the young being not unfrequently hatched in the middle of April, but it breeds very late into July. Two broods are the rule, but three are not unfrequent.

55. Tree-Sparrow. Passer montanus (Linn.).

' A resident species, but nowhere numerous and very local.' Those words were written by Clark Kennedy in 1858 (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 32), and we find this statement still correct, though it must be admitted that this sparrow is doubtless overlooked by many casual observers. We have specimens from Aston Clinton in the Tring Museum; it nests near Buckingham, where Mr. Kennedy reports a case of a nest in a sand martins' hole. Specimens have been killed at Datchet, Slough, Newbury and Aylesbury.

56. Chaffinch. Fringilla Cælebs, Linn.

Certainly one of the most common birds, if not the most numerous bird of the county. Nests everywhere and is seen during the winter in flocks, many of which must have come from the north.

57. Brambling. Fringilla montifringilla, Linn.

The brambling appears every winter, though many people mistake it apparently for the very different chaffinch. We have frequently seen flocks late in October, and W. Rothschild saw a great flock near Eddlesborough as late as March 3, 1902, but they are noticed most frequently in December and January.

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PHILADELPHIA, the of several of antiquity, of which the two most important have been noticed under, , and ,.


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Rh Their number varies much, and as a rule they are far more frequent in severe winters and when there is plenty of beech-mast. In 1865 Mr. A. E. Atkins of Farnham Court, Slough, observed vast numbers in Stoke Park. When the flock started from their roosting-place they continued streaming by without intermission for thirty-five minutes!

58. Linnet. Linota cannabina (Linn.).

Very common.

59. Mealy Redpoll. Linota linaria (Linn.).

The mealy redpoll is a winter visitor to England, occurring along the east coast south to the south coast, where it is frequent in some years, as was the case in 1895, when many hundreds were caught near Brighton; yet it is generally rare. We have hardly any record for Buckinghamshire, but it is sure to occur more or less frequently in the county. It is known to visit the Thames valley, and one was taken by Mr. Banfield on the borders of Hertfordshire near Ivinghoe in September 1883. The breeding home of this bird is Scandinavia to 69 north lat., Finland, western Russia, and south to the northeastern corner of East Prussia.

60. Linota holbælli (C. L. Brehm.). (This bird is not mentioned in Mr. Saunders' list. It is true that L. bornemanni is mentioned as doubtfully distinct from L. linaria, but L. hornemanni is quite a different form again, inhabiting Greenland during the breeding season. We have adapted the name of the present form to Mr. Saunders' nomenclature, although we believe that the proper generic name should be Acanthis.)

The breeding home of L. holbcelli is Norway, northern Lapland, and perhaps parts of Sweden. Sharpe (Handbook to the Birds of Great Britain, i. 47) mentions two specimens of this form in the British Museum which are labelled by John Gould as having been obtained near Norwich in January. We have in the Tring Museum an adult male caught near Aston Clinton, Bucks, on December 14, 1895. There can be no doubt that it belongs to L. holbaelli, but the red on the crown is abnormally pale. The wings are 80 mm. long, the tail 62. There is much more red on the rump than in L. linaria.

61. Lesser Redpoll. Linota rufescens( Vieilot).

Frequent in most winters, though varying in numbers. We do not know of an authenticated nest in the county, but we have no doubt that it has occasionally bred there. W. Rothschild has several times seen it on the ' flats,' near Champneys Park, close to the borders of Bucks, in summer, and is confident that it nested there, and Crossman records its breeding on Berkhamsted Common, close to Bucks.

62. Twite. Linota flavirostris (Linn.). A somewhat scarce winter visitor, though doubtless often unnoticed. We have it from the neighbourhood of Aston Clinton and Halton. Mr. Alfred Heneage Cocks informs us that three specimens were caught near Skirmett in a pheasant trap in the middle of February 1902.

63. Bullfinch. Pyrrhula europæa, Vieillot.

Very common throughout the year.

64. Crossbill. Loxia curvirostra. Linn.

A frequent winter visitor, and though rare or even absent in some years very numerous in others. As is well known, this bird is somewhat erratic in its breeding places, and it has probably also bred, though exceptionally, in the county. In the old manuscript at Dinton Hall is the figure of a specimen of ' ye Crossbill or Shellapple ' which was shot in 1782. The author adds the following interesting notes: ' Is an inconstant visitor of this island and breeds in ye pine-forests of Germany and Switzerland; it feeds on ye cones of those trees. It is a fact that it changes ye shades of its colour in different seasons of ye year from deep red to yellow and ye females which are greenish alter to different varieties of the same colour. Ten of these birds were shot and several others seen by ye Revnd. W. Goodall in ye Wilderness of Dinton Hall August 8th 1791. They had been observed by the servants some weeks, tho' they mistook them for bull finches. Qyr had they bred there? As some of ye males had not then gained thefr full plumage and one of ye females had not as yet a single yellow feather.'

65. Corn-Bunting. Emberiza miliaria, Linn.

Locally, Bunting, Bunting-Lark or Common Bunting.

Common enough in the arable districts, but absent from wooded hills and parks. It is very seldom seen here in winter.

66. Yellow Bunting. Emberiza citrinella, Linn.

Better known as the yellow hammer. A common resident.

67. Cirl Bunting. Emberiza cirlus, Linn.

This bunting is a regular breeder in the Chiltern Hills, though being far from com-

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Rh mon. It is a late breeder, nesting from May till July. The Rev. H. Harpur Crewe found a nest in a juniper bush on June 4, 1864, near Dray ton Beauchamp (Field, Dec. 3, 1 864, p. 384). The Rev. Hubert D. Astley found it not uncommon in the neighbourhood of Chequers Court on Coombe Hill, amongst gorse and brambles, and along the hills above Wendover. He found a nest in the shrubbery of the gardens at Chequers Court in a bush of ' mock orange ' (Syringa), about three feet from the ground. The female was seen on the nest; the eggs were typical. The male was often seen on wire rails close by. The young flew unmolested (June 1898). Hartert saw eggs taken near Halton. In winter the cirl bunting is less stationary and of course more easily noticed. We have seen it in winter near Ivinghoe, and received specimens from Aston Clinton. It has been caught at Pitstone.

68. Reed-Bunting. Emberiza schoeniclus, Linn.

Locally, Reed-Sparrow or Blackheaded Bunting.

Resident and generally distributed, though of course somewhat local, as it affects only reed beds and bushy stretches along marshy ditches, streams, rivers and ponds. It breeds at Stowe Park, on the rivers Thames, Colne, Chess and Ouse, on the Weston Turville reservoirs and other suitable places. It shifts its haunts more or less in winter, when it is sometimes seen in flocks.

69. Snow - Bunting. Plectrophenax nivalis (Linn.).

A cold weather visitant to the county. Not noticed every year, but sometimes in great numbers, and then as a rule in cold weather with deep snow. We have seen large flocks in 1895. The earliest date we know of is November 4, 1901, when a male was shot by Mr. H. Jenney at Drayton Lodge, Bucks, between Aylesbury and Tring. These birds are often seen near Aston Clinton. Their old manuscript mentions the occurrence in the great snow of January 8, 1776.

70. Starling. Sturnus vulgaris, Linn.

Very numerous and resident.

[Rose-coloured Starling. Pastor roseus (Linn.).

In Gould's Birds of Europe (vol. iii.) it is stated that a specimen was shot by John Newman, at Iver Court, near Langley, in Buckinghamshire.]

71 . Jay. Garrulus glandarius (Linn.).

Very numerous residents, though frequently killed on shooting days in the woods and anxiously kept down by the keepers.

72. Magpie. Pica rustica (Scopoli).

(Linnæus named this bird Corvus pica; we would therefore call it Pica pica [Linn.].) Resident throughout the year and generally distributed over the county, but far from common and rather local, being ruthlessly destroyed by most of the gamekeepers. It is regularly seen along the railway from Cheddington to Castlethorpe, and we have seen it more or less often near Mentmore, Bletchley, Yardley Chase, Buckingham and Aylesbury.

73. Jackdaw. Corvus monedula, Linn.

By no means rare throughout the' year. Nesting in holes of trees, old towers and other buildings, sometimes also in a rooks' nest. Of the many nesting-places we may cite Stowe Park, Eton, Dinton Hall. Much persecuted by the keepers.

74. Raven. Corvus corax, Linn.

Probably once upon a time a regularly breeding bird, but now only very rarely met with. In the old manuscript we find figures and notes of specimens shot on March 25, 1828, and December 16, 1829. Even then it was apparently not considered a very numerous species. Mr. Grossman writes: 'On August 14, 1887, I had the great pleasure of seeing one of these birds at Farnham near Slough. The bird was shy and difficult to approach, but there was no mistaking its hoarse note.'

75. Carrion-Crow. Corvus corone, Linn.

A regular resident throughout the county, though ruthlessly destroyed by the keepers, and therefore very scarce where pheasants are bred in great numbers. Perhaps most frequent in the grass country of north-eastern Buckinghamshire and north and west of Aylesbury. Colonel Goodall says it is common near Dinton. It is however rather on the decrease than on the increase. Mr. Grossman writes: 'In May 1892 I found a nest of this species near Chicheley containing three eggs, two of which were firmly embedded in a dead mole.'

76. Grey or Hooded Crow. Corvus comix, Linn.

A winter visitor, generally scarce, but more common in the plains near Cheddington, Mentmore, Leighton Buzzard and Fenny Stratford. Sometimes seen in great numbers.

77. Rook. Corvus frugilegus, Linn.

Very numerous. There is hardly a suitable park without a rookery in the county.

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Rh 78. Sky-Lark. Alauda arvensis, Linn.

Very numerous on fields and pastures. Pale and pied varieties are not rare. An entirely ' buff-yellow ' variety was shot on December 26, 1863, at Weston Turville (R. Tyrer, Zoologist, 1864, p. 8957).

79. Wood-Lark. Alauda arborea, Linn.

A rather rare and local bird in Buckinghamshire, being partial to dry, chiefly sandy, districts with open woods and plantations. It occurs therefore sparingly along the Chiltern Hills, and was observed near Chequers Court by the Rev. H. D. Astley.

80. Swift. Cypselus apus (Linn.).

(The correct name, if priority of generic as well as of specific names is recognized, is Apus apus. Cypselus is the third oldest generic term.)

Sometimes called the ' devil.' Very frequent, arriving within the first days of May, more rarely during the last days of April. E. Hartert had some correspondence with several prominent members of the British Ornithologists' Union, showing that, though the usual number of eggs is certainly two, three eggs are not unfrequently found in one nest.

81. Nightjar. Caprimulgus europæus, Linn.

This summer visitor is by no means rare in suitable localities, viz. dry open woods, chiefly of conifers, dry ground covered with heather, gorse or ferns. Mr. A. Heneage Cocks says it is plentiful in all the woods in the Humbledon district. It is not rare about Burnham Beeches, and very common on the hills above Halton. There it can be heard and seen on every summer's night. The Rev. Hubert D. Astley calls it numerous near Chequers Court, Coombe Hill and above Wendover. W. Rothschild saw it near Buckingham, E. Hartert near Princes Risborough. It is said to be abundant near Slough and Eton, and Mr. Clark Kennedy described it as common in the woods near Beaconsfield.

82. Wryneck. lynx torquilla, Linn.

Locally, Cuckoo's mate, Nile bird (at Great Marlow), Pea bird.

The first name evidently refers to the time of arrival, which may be much the same as that of the cuckoo; the third must, we think, refer to its cry, and the second name does perhaps the same. The wryneck is, it seems, somewhat decreasing in number. It is seen or heard in most districts, but nowhere is it common. Mr. Grossman informs us that it used formerly to be plentiful round Farnham and Burnham. In 1878 it was heard as early as April 5 at Stoke Pogis Vicarage near Slough. A pure white wryneck, a young one of the year, was killed on October 27, 1878, at Wendover Hall.

83. Green Woodpecker. Gecinus viridis (Linn.).

Though nowhere numerous, it occurs wherever there are old trees in which it can nest. Altogether it is probably the most plentiful woodpecker in the county. Its very loud note makes it easily heard.

84. Great Spotted Woodpecker. Dendracopus major (Linn.).

(The more exact name of the British great spotted woodpecker is D. major anglicus [Novit. Zool. 1900, p. 528]. It differs very strikingly from the typical Swedish form in its smaller size, especially shorter wing and slenderer bill, as well as less pure white underside.)

Only found in woods and well-wooded parks, and therefore not universally distributed. It breeds near Aylesbury, Aston Clinton and Halton, at Howe Park and near Castlethorpe. Mr. Grossman found it in many places in south Bucks, more especially where the beech is plentiful. It is often seen at Burnham Beeches (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 44), and has been observed at Chesham, Eton, Taplow and Ashridge Park.

85. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Dendrocopus minor (Linn.).

A resident bird throughout the year, and perhaps commoner than most people think, being small and less noticeable than the other woodpeckers. It often makes its nests in fruit trees in orchards at variable height. Mr. Grossman knows of nests in the neighbourhood of Farnham and Newton Blossomville near Olney. We have had a specimen from Wingrave, and it has been obtained or observed at Stoke Park, Eton, Dorney near Brill, Latimer, Langley near Stokes, Datchet, Aston Clinton, Buckingham, Ashridge Park, Marsworth, Cheddington, Mentmore, Aylesbury and Castlethorpe.

[Great Black Woodpecker. Picus martins, Linn.

Clark Kennedy (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 178) says: 'In March 1867, while walking under some elms in Ditton Park, I saw a great black woodpecker busily engaged on one of the tallest trees within a short distance of me. I was sufficiently near to identify the bird with certainty, and had an opportunity of

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Rh observing its movements for the space of half a minute, when it flew off with an undulating flight to a considerable distance and was seen no more.']

86. Kingfisher. Alcedo ispida, Linn.

Resident and generally distributed wherever there are streams or other suitable waters. Owing to their bright plumage they are frequently shot without object or reason, and the nests are often robbed, so that they get considerably thinned out. They have evi- dently been very frequent at times. Mr. A. R. Cocks tells us (Zoologist, 1891, p. 154) that a local birdstuffer at Great Marlow had nearly 100 specimens to stuff in the year 1 890. Mr. Cocks also informs us (in litt.) that they have become much rarer through persecution, but that they have to a certain extent re- covered their numbers since they have been less persecuted in recent years.

87. Hoopoe. Upupa epops, Linn.

This beautiful bird has been obtained a good many times. A female was shot at Stewkley April 24, 1862 (Jones, Field, 1862, p. 387). A male was shot in April 1888 near Wendover, in one of the driest parts of the Chiltern Hills (Odling, Field, 1888, p. 536). One was killed at Lavender Park farm November 20, 1889 (Tomalin, Field, 1889, p. 777). On April 27, 1859, one was seen at West Wycombe, and one, prob- ably the same specimen, shot two days after at Eyrsham (Roby in the Field, 1859). On May 3 one was wounded at Burnham Grove naar Maidenhead (Thomas Ingatton). One was caught alive in 1861 or 1862 near Eton. In 1828 one was shot near the Eton Wick public-house (Birds of Berks and Such). In 1857 one was shot at Aston Abbots. Others have been killed at Chesham and Buckingham. It is certainly a pity that almost every specimen seen in England falls to the gun, and science is hardly benefited thereby. Whether the hoopoe would, if unmolested, soon become a regular breeding species, as has been said by ornithologists, we doubt very much. There would have been plenty of time to develop into a regular breeder before every one shot the hoopoe down, but in spite of assertions to the contrary, there is no proof that the hoopoe was more frequent in olden times than it is now. Where this bird breeds it is well known, and yet Dr. Muffet, who died in 1590, wrote : ' Houpes were not thought by Dr. Turner to be found in England, yet I saw Mr. Serjeant Goodrons kill one of them in Charingdon Park, when he did very skilfully and happily cure my Lord of Pembroke at Ivychurch ' (see Harting, Handbook of British Birds, p. 115). The old MS. in Dinton Hall shows an excellent figure of the bird, said to be cock and hen, the latter however being evidently a young bird. The following note is added : ' Hoop or dung bird. Shot by William Lee of Ford 1760. The vulgar in country esteem it a forerunner of some calamity. It visits these islands frequently but not at stated seasons, neither does it breed with us.' Now this is exactly what is the case now, for the instances in which it has bred are few and far between and not the rule. A regular breeding bird is never considered ' by the vulgar in country to be a forerunner of some calamity.'

88. Cuckoo. Cuculus canorus, Linn.

Very frequent. Eggs are known to us as having been taken in nests of hedge-sparrows, reed-warblers and pipits in Buckinghamshire, but we have had no time for egg-hunting.

89. White or Barn-Owl. Strix flammea, Linn.

(The more exact name of the west European barn-owl, or, as it is correctly called, white owl in opposition to the typical S. flammea, with a brown under-surface is S. flammea kirchhoffi, Brehm. See Novit. Zool, 1800, p. 533.)

Breeds commonly and is found throughout the year. Though nesting in various sorts of buildings, especially old towers, the majority are probably now nesting in this county in hollow trees, and we have so often flushed them, at all seasons, from thick plantations of young trees, that we think it may excep- tionally nest there perhaps in old nests or rabbit holes, as long-eared and little owls do. Clark Kennedy mentions as many as nine eggs being taken from a tree in Burnham Beeches ; and near Tring as many as eleven eggs have been found in one nest. In April 1893 Mr. Grossman found a bird of this species sitting on one of its own eggs and two stock dove eggs in a hole in a tree at Newton Blossomville.

90. Long-eared Owl. Asia otus (Linn.).

Locally found over the county, but only in wooded parts and especially in fir-plantations, where it deposits its eggs in old nests.

91. Short-eared Owl. Asia accipitrinus (Pallas).

Frequently called the woodcock owl. A common visitor in autumn and winter, though very rare in some years.

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Rh 92. Tawny Owl. Syrnium aluco (Linn.).

Generally called the brown owl or wood owl. Common wherever there are large and old trees with hollows to breed in, but absent, at least during the breeding season, from places where such trees are wanting. An extremely grey variety, ' with the white markings conspicuous and no trace of rufous tawny,' was shot at Great Horwood near Winslowin July 1884 (Aplin, Zoologist, 1884, p. 471). It is well known that this owl occurs in a brown and a greyish phase, but the brown and often very rufous phase is apparently the prevailing one in England.

93. Little Owl. Athene noctua (Scopoli).

The captures of this owl in Buckingham- shire being all of recent date (1896, Fingest; 1894, Turville ; 1902, Bletchley), there can be no doubt that all are due to the many in- troduced specimens. Every year cages full are sent over from Holland, and in Northamp- tonshire (Lord Lilford) and Tring (Mr. Roth- schild) many have been liberated and bred, though they are decreasing in numbers.

94. Scops Eared-Owl. Scops giu (Scopoli).

(The proper name is Pisorhina scops.) ' A bird of this species was shot by a far- mer on the borders of Bucks, near Brill, in the spring of 1838, and taken to Mr. Forest, from whom we shortly after received infor- mation of its occurrence ' (A. H. Matthews, Zoologist, 1849, p. 2596.)

95. Marsh Harrier. Circus æruginosus (Linn.).

Though doubtless in former times fairly numerous in marshy districts, we have no de- tailed records of this bird's breeding in the county, nor notes of very recent occurrences. In 1868 Clark Kennedy wrote (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 4) : ' Resident throughout the year but nowhere numerous. It is dis- tributed sparingly in both counties, and is doubtless often confounded with the hen har- rier. A few are still to be seen at various seasons in the neighbourhood of Chesham ; and it remains all the year in some favoured localities, which are now, alas ! " few and far between " in the two counties. The Rev. Bryan Burgess of Latimer, near Chesham, wrote me word of an immature marsh harrier which was killed some years ago near Ris- borough.'

Mr. Cocks tells us that Mr. R. Lunnon winged a male near Spade Oak, Little Mar- low, in the heavy snow on January 19, 1881, and gave it alive to Mr. Cocks on December 21, 1881.

96. Hen-Harrier. Circus cyaneus (Linn.). Like most birds of prey the hen-harrier is also a bird of the past in most places where it used to breed. According to Mr. Clark Kennedy a male was shot at Eton College in 1857, an d it ' has occurred at Chesham and near Cookham.' Some fifteen years ago or so one was shot near the Tring reservoirs, close to the borders of Herts.

97. Montagu's Harrier. Circus cineraceus (Montagu).

(The correct name in our opinion is Circus pygargus, Linnæus, 1758 and 1766.)

According to Mr. Cocks (Field, 1873) a specimen was killed near Hurley in 1870. A fine adult male was trapped near Wigginton, Tring, close to the Bucks border. Clark Kennedy wrote (p. 166) : ' The Rev. Harpur Crewe informed me that a specimen of this bird was killed some years since by Mr. A. H. Jenney in the parish of Drayton Beauchamp in Buckinghamshire. It is now in the pos- session of Sir J. H. Crewe. Mr. R. B. Sharpe sent me word that a harrier of this species was procured by a gentleman of his acquaint- ance near Eton in the summer of 1867, and is now in his collection.'

98. Buzzard. Buteo vulgaris, Leach.

(We would call this bird B'uteo buteo (Linn.), being the Falca buteo, Linn.)

In the Field, March 1875, p. 72, Mr. Thomas Marshall writes : ' A fine specimen of the common buzzard was trapped in the neighbourhood of High Wycombe early in March 1875. Another was killed last year at Little Marlow. I am informed that the latter had been observed and stalked for a long time previously.'

99. Rough-legged Buzzard. Buteo lagopus (Gmelin). (Should, in our opinion, be called Archibuteo lagopus. It is inconsistent to suppress the genus Archibuteo if so many other genera are recognized.)

A specimen was trapped near Wycombe on December 6, 1880 (T. Marshall, Fiel4, ii. 1880, p. 905). In the late autumn of 1891 three were trapped (one of them alive) near Halton, and of these two are now in the museum at Tring. These are the same re- corded by Mr. Grossman in the History of Herts, p. 206, in 1893 as having been 'shot at Tring.' They were caught near Halton, near Tring in Buckinghamshire, and the year was certainly not 1893, but 1891 or possibly 1890. Clark Kennedy (p. 165) mentions a pair which were shot in Bledlow

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Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Philadelphia (2.)

PHILADELPHIA, the chief city of Pennsylvania, and the second city in the United States of America, is situated (39° 57' 7.5" N. lat., 75° 9' 23.4" W. long.) on the west bank of the Delaware river, 96 miles from the Atlantic and in a direct line 125 miles north-east of Washington, D.C., and 85 miles south-west of the city of New York. Its greatest length north-north-east is 22 miles, its breadth from 5 to 10 miles, and its area 82,603 acres, or about 129 square miles (greater than that of any other city in America). The surface of the city between the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill—the latter running parallel with the Delaware and dividing the city about in half, east and west—is remarkably level. It varies, however, in elevation from 24½ feet above the sea to 440 feet, the latter in the northern and suburban sections. The eastern and western sections of the city are connected by eight bridges. The length of river-front on the Delaware is nearly 20 miles, and the length of wharves 5 miles. On both sides of the Schuylkill, to Fairmount dam, the front is 16 miles and the length of wharves 4 miles. The mean low-water mark of the Delaware is 24 feet, and the tide rises 6 feet, while the average depth of water at the city wharves is 50 feet. The wharf-line, which varies from 14 feet to 68 feet, gives extraordinary accommodation for shipping. The Delaware is navigable at all seasons of the year for vessels of the heaviest burden, and Philadelphia affords one of the best protected harbours in the country. The

substratum of the city is a clay soil mixed with more or less sand and gravel.

General Plan of Philadelphia.

The site of the present Philadelphia was originally settled by the Swedes, and so Penn found it when he came to lay out the city; and many of the original patentees for town lots under him were descendants of these first settlers. The original city limits were from east to west 10,922 feet 5 inches, and from north to south 5370 feet 8 inches, or more than 2 square miles. The boundaries were Vine street on the N., Cedar (now South) street on the S., the Delaware river on the E., and the Schuylkill river on the W. And this was the city of Philadelphia from its foundation until the 2d day of February 1854, when what is known as the Consolidation Act was passed by the legislature of the State, and the old limits of the city proper were extended to take in all the territory embraced within the then county of Philadelphia. This legislation abolished the districts of Southwark, Northern Liberties, Kensington, Spring Garden, Moyamensing, Penn, Richmond, West Philadelphia, and Belmont; the boroughs of Frankford, Germantown, Manayunk, White-Hall, Bridesburg, and Aramingo; and the townships of Passyunk, Blockley, Kingsessing, Roxborough, Germantown, Bristol, Oxford, Lower Dublin, Moreland, Bybery, Delaware, and Penn; and it transferred all their franchises and property to the consolidated city of Philadelphia under one municipal government. The present boundaries of the city are: on the E. the Delaware, on the N.E. Bucks county, on the N.N.W. and W. Montgomery county, and on the W. and S. Delaware county and the Delaware. The greater part is laid out in parallelograms, with streets at right angles to each other. Each main parallelogram contains about 4 acres, or is 400 feet on each

of its sides, divided by one or more small thoroughfares. Upon the city plans there are plotted 191,928 separate town lots. The main streets running north and south are numbered from First or Front to Sixty-third streets, and those running east and west were formerly named after the trees and shrubs found in the province. Thus, while the principal street in the city is named Market street, other main streets are named Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, Pine, &c. The main streets of Philadelphia are 50 feet wide, with some few exceptions: Broad or Fourteenth street is 113 feet wide, and Market street is 100 feet wide. The streets are generally paved with rubble stone, although square or Belgian blocks of granite are being extensively introduced. There are laid down on the city plans upwards of 2000 miles of streets, but at present (1884) only 1060½ miles are opened, of which 573.54 miles are paved and 44.28 macadamized. The pavements are chiefly of brick, but some of the more prominent streets have flagstone sidewalks. Market street and Chestnut street, below Eighth street, and Front street are the localities where the main wholesale business of the city is conducted. Most of the retail stores are situated in the upper part of Chestnut street and Eighth street. The principal banking institutions are in Chestnut street, between Second and Fifth streets, and in Third street between Walnut and Chestnut streets. Walnut street in the southern section of the city, and Spring Garden and Broad streets in the northern section of the city, are the chief streets for large and luxurious private residences. There is not a street of any consequence which has not a tramway along it; and the tramway system has done a great deal to increase building, until now Philadelphia is emphatically “the city of homes.” There are upwards of 160,000 dwelling-houses, of which at least 110,000 are owned by the occupants. According to the returns for the census of 1880, there were 146,412 dwelling-houses in the city, which, taking the population as given by that census, 847,170, gave 5.79 persons to each house, while the number of dwellings in New York to the population gave 16.37 to each house. On the original plan of the city five squares, equidistant, were reserved for public parks. One of these, called Centre square, situated at the intersection of Broad and Market streets, has been taken for the erection of the city-hall, and the remaining four, situated at Sixth and Walnut, Sixth and Race, Eighteenth and Walnut, and Eighteenth and Race, and named respectively Washington, Franklin, Rittenhouse, and Logan, have a combined area of 29.06 acres. There are six other public squares in the city, with a total area of 18.90 acres. In addition to these public squares, Fairmount Park, with an area of 2791$1/5$ acres, including 373 acres of the water-surface of the Schuylkill river, is the most extensive public park in the United States. It lies in the north-western section of the city, and the Schuylkill river and Wissahickon creek wind through the greater portion of it. In the park Horticultural Hall and Memorial Hall remain

as mementoes of the Centennial Exhibition held there in 1876. The garden of the Zoological Society, covering 33 acres, on the outskirts of the park, was opened 1st July 1874, as the pioneer of such enterprises in the United States. Until within the last score of years the buildings in Philadelphia bore a singular resemblance to each other, especially the dwelling-houses. The predominant material for building was, and is, red brick, the soil affording the finest clay for brick found in the United States. The desire for uniformity in buildings, both in style and material, has happily undergone a change in recent years, although the danger now is of running to the other extreme, and thus giving the streets a decidedly bizarre appearance. There are 238¾ miles of sewers in Philadelphia, but the drainage of the city is wholly inadequate. The streets are lighted by 12,805 gas-lamps, and Chestnut street by the electric light. There are 748 miles of gas main, and the average daily consumption is 10,624,000 cubic feet.

Buildings.—The old brick Swedes Church in Swanson street in the extreme south-eastern section, dedicated on the first Sunday after Trinity 1700, is the oldest building of character now standing in the city. When it was completed it was looked upon as a great masterpiece, and nothing was then equal to it in the town. The four other colonial buildings of importance still standing are Christ (Protestant Episcopal) Church, the old State House (Independence Hall), the Pennsylvania Hospital, and Carpenter's Hall, all of them built of red brick with black glazed headers. Dr. John Kearsley, a physician, was the architect of the first-mentioned, and Andrew Hamilton, a lawyer, the architect of the second. Christ Church stands on the west side of Second street between Market and Arch streets, and its erection was begun in 1727, but it was not finished, as it now appears with tower and spire, until 1754. It was built on the site of a still older Christ Church, which was also of brick, erected in 1695. Queen Anne in 1708 presented a set of communion plate to the church, which is now used on great occasions. During his presidency Washington worshipped at this church, and his pew is still preserved, as is also that of Franklin. In 1882 the interior of the church was restored to its ancient character at an expense of about $10,000. The nave is 75 feet long by 61 feet in width and 47 feet high; the chancel is 15 feet by 24; and the spire is 196 feet 9 inches high. The old State House or Independence Hall, on the south side of Chestnut street between Fifth and Sixth streets, was commenced in 1731, and was ready for occupancy by the Assembly towards the close of 1735. It was the scene of almost all the great civil events of the Revolutionary War. It is 100 feet in length on Chestnut street by 44 feet in depth; and prior to the centennial celebration its exterior and interior were restored as nearly as possible to their original appearance. The Pennsylvania Hospital occupies the square of ground bounded by Spruce, Pine, Eighth, and Ninth streets, and the corner-stone of the building was laid on 28th May 1755. Carpenter's Hall, where the first Congress met, stands back from Chestnut street, east of Fourth street, and was begun in January 1770. These four buildings are all very simple in their construction, but substantial and imposing, and are interesting specimens of colonial architecture. Among the notably fine buildings in Philadelphia are the old United States bank, now the United States custom-house, the Girard bank, the United States mint, and the Girard College, all of which, with the exception of the last-named, were built more than half a century ago. They are all of white marble and of the different orders of Grecian architecture, with porticos and high fluted columns. Other fine

are the Masonic Temple, the Ridgway branch of the Philadelphia library, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Academy of Natural Sciences. There are also very many beautiful churches. The two newest buildings of magnitude are the new United States post-office, at the corner of Ninth and Chestnut streets, which is just completed (1884) at a cost of $8,000,000, and the new municipal buildings for the city of Philadelphia at the intersection of Broad and Market streets, which are in course of construction. The post-office, which is Romanesque, is of granite, and was more than ten years in building, from October 1873 to March 1884. It has a frontage of 425 feet, a depth of 175 feet, and a height of 164 feet. The carrier delivery of the Philadelphia post-office covers the greatest territory of any city in the world, excepting London; it employs 900 men, of whom 448 are letter-carriers. The annual sales of stamps amount to $1,600,000. About half a million of letters, &c., pass through the post-office each day. The new public buildings, as they are called, or city-hall, were begun in August 1871, and when completed will be the largest single building in America. It covers an area, including courtyards, of nearly 4½ acres, the dimensions being 470 feet east and west and 486 feet north and south. The building will contain 520 rooms, and the topmost point of the dome, on the tower, will be 537 feet 4 inches above the courtyard, or the highest artificial construction in the world. The exterior structure is now roofed in and completed, with the exception of the tower. The total amount expended on this building to 31st December 1883 was $9,731,488.81, and the estimated total cost is $13,000,000. The architecture is rather rococo in character.

Population.—Previous to the census of 1830 Philadelphia was the most populous American city, but since then New York has taken the first place. In 1683 it was estimated that Philadelphia had 80 houses and 500 inhabitants. The next year the population increased 2000, and by the beginning of the last century there were 700 dwelling-houses and 4500 people. In 1800 there were 9868 dwellings and 81,009 inhabitants, and in 1820, the last census when Philadelphia stood first, she had a population of 119,325. By the census of 1880 the population of the city is placed at 847,170 (males 405,989, females 441,181), while in 1870 it was 674,022, and in 1860 565,529. About one-third of the population in 1880 were foreign born. In 1883 there were 21,237 births, of which 11,102 were males and 10,135 females. The number of emigrants landed in the year at Philadelphia was 23,473, of whom 13,899 were males and 9574 females,—a decrease of 9778 from 1882. Of these emigrants 7304 were from England, 6023 from Ireland, 5232 from Sweden and Norway, and 2991 from Germany. The mayor of Philadelphia in his annual message to councils in April 1884 places the population of the city at 1,023,000, while the Board of Health estimate it at 907,041. The death-rate of the city in 1883 was 22.13 per thousand. By the census of 1880 41 per cent. of the population were engaged in gainful occupations. In 1884 there were in Philadelphia 1294 lawyers and 1637 physicians. The city has 622 places of worship, viz., Baptist 83, Hebrew 11, Lutheran 32, Methodist 131, Moravian 5, Presbyterian 110, Protestant Episcopal 96, Quaker 15, Reformed Dutch 20, Reformed Episcopal 10, Roman Catholic 47, Swedenborgian 3, Unitarian 3, Universalist 4, and 52 among 23 other different denominations. There are 53 cemeteries and burial-grounds in the city.

(C. H. H*.)