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{{rh||A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE |}}
lows : iris, white with a faint greyish tinge ;
feet, pale bluish grey ; joints and webs,
blackish ; bill, bluish grey, lightest near base
and before tip ; ' nail ' on bill almost black.
Width (expanded wings), 75½ cm.; wing in
flesh, 22 cm. This specimen is the only one
known to have been obtained in Europe. It
was in good condition and certainly a genuine
wild bird. Careful inquiries made by Mr.
N. C. Rothschild have shown that no un-
pinioned bird of this species was kept in
England and that none had escaped (cf.
''Bulletin Brit. Orn. Club'', Nov. 1901.xii. 25).
136. Tufted Duck. ''Fuligula cristata'' (Leach).
Not infrequent as a winter visitor to all
larger pieces of water, especially the reservoirs,
and breeding in some numbers on the Weston
Turville (Halton) and Tring reservoirs.
137. Scaup-Duck. ''Fuligula marila'' (Linn.).
An occasional but irregular winter visitor
to the larger pieces of water, such as the Tring
reservoirs, the river Chess, and probably the
Thames. We have one shot on the Tring
reservoir on December 2, 1892, and have
seen it at least twice since then, once in large
flocks.
138. Goldeneye. ''Clangula glaucion'' (Linn.).
An irregular winter visitor, often appearing
in great numbers on the Tring reservoirs in
very cold weather. We have seen many
adult males among them, but they are very
wild and difficult to approach. Specimens
have been shot in various places in Bucking-
hamshire.
139. Common Scoter. ''Œdemia nigra' (Linn.).
A rare winter visitor, but sometimes more
numerous than usual. In 1892 (October and
December) there were quite a number of
females on the Tring reservoirs, and four
females of those dates are now in the Tring
Museum. On March 22, 1879, an adult
male was shot on the Thames near Windsor
(Curtis, ''Field'', 1879, p. 369). Joe Cox, jun.,
shot a young male at Deadmere, Great Mar-
low, on December 18, 1893 (A. H. Cocks,
in litt.).
140. Goosander. ''Mergus merganser'', Linn.
The goosander, ' saw-billed duck,' or ' dun
diver ' is a rare winter visitor. A female
(called ''Mergus serrator'', but from the figure
a goosander) was shot at Dinton Hall on
November 26, 1774. Almost every winter
specimens are observed or obtained on the
Thames, where it separates Buckinghamshire
and Berkshire. In the winter, generally in
cold weather, single specimens and small
parties have from time to time been observed
on the Tring reservoirs. Two females were
shot on November 8 and 29, 1901. Mr.
Alfred Heneage Cocks informs us that one was
shot near Great Marlow on January 27, 1881.
141. Red-breasted Merganser. ''Mergus serrator'', Linn.
A much rarer visitor. Mr. Kennedy says
only vaguely that individuals are occasionally
shot on the Thames. We have not ourselves
been able to verify its occurrence on the
reservoirs until 1901, when three young males
and females were shot on the Marsworth
reservoirs, on the Buckinghamshire borders,
by Mr. N. C. Rothschild and the keeper. (A
year or two before 1883, which was the first
year I shot on the reservoirs, the Rev. A.
Birch shot a female on Little Tring reservoir,
which he had stuffed. W. R.)
142. Smew. ''Mergus albellus'', Linn.
As long ago as 1774 this bird was noticed
in Buckinghamshire. In that year a female,
called ''Mergus minutus'', red-headed smew, was
shot on November 23 at Dinton Hall. On
January 12, 1891, a young female was shot
in the Brewery sewage works below Great
Marlow. The only other instance of its
occurrence actually in the county is an adult
male shot in January 1876, opposite Stone-
house on the Thames (A. H. Cocks, ''Zoologist'',
1891, p. 153).
143. Ring-Dove or Wood-Pigeon. ''Columba palumbus'', Linn.
Very common, breeding everywhere. In
certain years, apparently only when there is
plenty of food in the form of beech-mast, it
appears in enormous numbers, as for example
in the winter of 1894-5.
144. Stock-Dove. ''Columba ænas'', Linn.
This species nests throughout the county
where old trees afford nesting-holes. It is
however a migrant, leaving us in winter.
Kennedy (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 55)
has apparently confounded the ring-dove and
stock-dove, and it is the former (Columba
palumbus) which feeds in winter in large
flocks on the beech-mast, not the stock-dove,
as reported by the Rev. H. Harpur Crewe.
145. Rock-Dove. ''Columba livia'', Gmelin.
' A wild, white-rumped pigeon, slightly
smaller than the wood-pigeon, and equally
distinct from the stock - dove, is, or was,
plentiful at one particular spot in Bucking-
hamshire, viz. a high chalk cliff, facing the
Thames near the lower end of the Danes-
field estate, near where Harleyford estate
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