Epping Forest: Its birds. Edward North Buxton (1923)

Extract from the 9th edition revised, 1923

“The Nightingale, of birds most choice,

To do her best shall strain her voice:

And to this bird, to make a set,

The Mavis, merle, and robinet

The lark, the linnet, and the thrush,

That makes a choir in every bush.”

Drayton

Many kinds of birds are observed in Epping Forest.  Formerly they suffered much as the hands of bird catchers, who caught great numbers with clap-nets and other devices.  This is now happily prohibited by the Conservators’ bye-laws, which are well enforced.  Bird-catching is also now prohibited throughout the year under an order of the Home Office over a considerable area surrounding the Forest.  The following notes are the result of the observations of several naturalists in the neighbourhood.

Peregrine Falcon.  A pair of these birds were killed some year ago on the Copped Hall estate

Sparrow Hawk.  Occasionally seen throughout the Forest.  Is destructive to game and small birds.  Though abhorred by the gamekeeper, I hope it will continue to be preserved on some of the estates adjoining the Forest.  On the Forest itself it of course enjoys immunity from persecution.

Hobby.  A pair of these beautiful but local summer visitants nested two years–1846-47.  After being disturbed they nested on the Hill Hall estate, and brought off their young.

Kestrel. Quite common.  Seen hovering or gliding over the open ground.  Feeds chiefly on mice and such small game.  Nearly the whole of the proprietors round the Forest have agreed to protect this bird, which does little harm and much good.  May be seen on Fairmead.

Merlin.  Reported to have been seen in Loughton Parish some years ago.

Common Buzzard.  “Has been several times in past years” TFB.

Rough-legged Buzzard.  A pair of these birds killed some years ago at Epping were presented by the late Mr Doubleday, of Epping, to the British Museum, where they are still preserved.

Honey Buzzard.  A specimen of this bird was observed in September 1881, by my brother, Sir TF Buxton. It rose from a bush of beech close to his feet, and flew with rather a heavy flight to an oak about 20 yards off, where it remained for a few seconds.  On examining the bush he found it swarming with wasps, which began to fly out on his touching the bushes.  He then found pieces of wasps’ comb lying on the ground outside the bush, and the dead leaves scattered around.  On the following morning, on approaching the spot, he again saw the bird flying over the trees away from him.  Much more of the wasps’ comb was lying about, and a large cavity could be seen under the branches, where the nest had evidently been scratched up, and the contents strewn around.  The branches of the bush showed, no signs of injury, as they would have had any man disturbed the nest.  The spot was near the spring on the Woodredon Hill.  The bird was subsequently seen on several successive days.

Raven. “A pair of ravens used to nest in the Wanstead heronry.  Your grandfather, Samuel Gurney, took there one spring (I think about 1833 or 1834), and we then saw two young ravens which the keeper had taken out of the nest a few hours previously.  Your grandfather bought them, and turned them loose in the stable-yard at Ham House, but as he would not have their wings cut, in a few weeks’ time they flew away” JHG.

Barn Owl.  I used to hear this bird nightly twenty years ago in Lord’s Bushes, the old hollow trees of which it frequented.  For several years is disappeared from that locality, but I have recently heard it again.  I saw a pair close to Fairmead Lodge in the summer of 1884.  A chorus of angry Jays attracted me to the tree where they were.  His silent flight is caused by a fringe down the wing.  Mr Lister writes: “Was a frequent visitor to my garden years ago, and used to beat over the Virginian Creeper that covered the end of the house, where sparrows roosted in great numbers.  It bred in an old poplar in the grounds of Forest House, and still breeds there yearly in trees at Elmhurst, Woodford.”  This and other species of owl are now preserved by the landowners surrounding the Forest.

Tawny Owl.  Abundant; may be heard in the evening at almost any season.  Monk Wood.

Long-eared Owl.  Has been obtained several times and it would multiply rapidly if it were not so frequently destroyed by gamekeepers.  Abundant.

Short-eared Owl.  An autumn and winter visitor.  Shot on several occasions by sportsmen in turnip fields in the neighbourhood.

Red-backed Shrike.  One of the handsomest of our spring visitors.  The broods keep together well into the summer, and are often seen.  They breed in the neighbourhood frequently, or used to do so.  A pair built a near Debden Green in 1895.  “I have watched a male bird fix the head of a young wren on to a thorn in his ‘larder’ using great exertion.  Their store usually consists of insects and worms.” AL “Nested on White Hall Plain” HCP.

Great Gray Shrike.  The late Mr Doubleday, of Epping, had a bird of this species which was captured by a bird catcher in the Forest, and which he kept alive in a cage for a long time.  It invariably hung up its food in its cage.  If half a dozen small birds were put in (dead), it hung them all up by forcing their heads through the wires.  “I saw a male north of the Warren for several days in April 1920” HCP.

Rook.  The Forest is enlivened by several rookeries adjacent to different parts of the Forest.  They have vastly increased at Wanstead Park, where they breed on the islands.

Jackdaw.  “They come in numbers to roost on islands at Wanstead, where they also breed.  Also Warren.” HCP.

Carrion Crow.  A few are always about; they are rapacious birds, and extraordinarily alert.  They nest in several places in the neighbourhood.  Their nests may always be distinguished from those of rooks by the lining of wool.

Hooded Crow.  Occasional winter visitor.

Magpie.  This predatory foe to others birds has become very uncommon hereabouts,  “There are three pairs breeding near here (1922, the neighbourhood of Waltham Abbey).”  TFB.  I have not seen any in the Forest recently and they should be protected when they occur.  They are common in North Essex.  They used to breed regularly in the Rectory garden at Loughton,  “A pair used to breed at Knighton, but I have not observed them for many years.” ENB.

Jay. The character of the thicket has greatly encouraged this bird.  The harsh rasping note with which he greets an intruder, and his sly ways as he flits ahead, always impelled by curiosity but always out of reach, enliven the Forest, and yet this is the only bird upon whose unlimited increase in the Forest I would place a check.  He is cruelly destructive  of all other birds’ nests, except those that build in holes.  For this reason a solemn order has gone forth from the Guildhall that the numbers should be limited, and formerly an effort was made to destroy some of them, with, as I think, some effect in increasing the numbers of lesser birds, and the liveliness of the thickets.

Starling.  Perhaps the most abundant bird in the district after the sparrow, but he was a very rare bird in many arts of England fifty years ago.  May breed in old pollards and help to destroy injurious caterpillars.

Ring Ousel.  A fine cock-bird was seen on Mr Venables’ wall and in his garden at the entrance to Wanstead Park on 5th September 1877.  “Many years ago I saw one in my father’s fields at Upton at the time of the spring migration” AL One was seen in the spring of 1884 by the River Roding, and other instances have been recorded.

Song Thrush.  Abundant in the autumn, it is always welcomed by every one.  Almost absent in mid-winter.

Blackbird. Abundant.  We owe much of the music of the woods to these two birds.

Redwing. Large numbers roost in the denser thickets during hard winters, especially when there is a good supply of holly and other berries.  At sunset they come trooping in from all quarters, and sweep around the trees in graceful flight before settling down for the night in the lower brushwood.

Fieldfare. In hard weather they come close to the house to feed on holly berries.

Missel Thrush. Common.  His grating note is heard in mid-winter and the early months.

Wryneck. Comes with the cuckoo, and is frequently heard in April.  “I have seen this bird in the spring, but have not found it later in the year.  I doubt if its breeds here.” HCP  It is now rare (1922).

Green Woodpecker.  May be constantly heard tapping, and occasionally seen, in the northern part of the Forest.

Greater Spotted Woodpecker.  Fairly common in several parts.  The rattling of his beak on a hollow branch is audible at a long distance.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.  “Three times seen in my garden at Leytonstone.” AL.  Not uncommon in the Forest.  “Breeds in my wood.” ENB.

Nuthatch.  Generally found in the neighbourhood of old elm trees.  In such positions, if supplied with nuts, they carry them off every morning, invariably leaving unsound ones.  “Many years ago a pair used to come to my whistle every morning to be fed at an old mulberry tree in my garden.  They would run down the branch to within a yard of my outstretched hand.” AL.   Generally found near High Beach or Gilwell Park.  Not common in Forest.” HCP.  “Very local.”  AB.

Hoopoe. More than one example of this rare bird has been observed in the neighbourhood,  “One bird frequented a garden at Knotts Green for several days some years ago.” AL.

Tree Creeper.  Resident and common in the Forest, and in Wanstead Park.

Cuckoo.  A common summer visitor.

Kingfisher. Not unfrequently seen by the ponds and streams of the Forest.  “I have seen them flash out like a streak of blue lightning from the ditches close to the Forest Hotel at Chingford,  They come to one of my ponds every spring.” ENB.

Crossbills. The late Mr Doubleday, of Epping, procured examples of both the common and European white-winged crossbills at Epping and in September 1861 three specimens of the parrot crossbill were killed at one shot by a boy at Landborne.  A pair of common crossbill nested in some firs a Bowyer, close by Epping Railway Station.

House Sparrow.  Everywhere.

Tree Sparrow. Common about the pollard willows near the River Roding and Queen Elizabeth’s Lodge.

Brambling.  More frequent in the winter than is usually supposed.  A few years since there were large flocks feeding upon the beech-nuts.

Greenfinch. Common.  Large flocks may be seen assembling on the tops of trees at dusk, in the winter.

Hawfinch. Typical of the Forest, but very shy, and consequently unobserved.  The nests are so loosely built that the eggs may often be seen from below through the bottom. Perhaps the most typical forest bird we have.  It feeds on many sorts of berries and seeds; e.g. hawthorn, holly and notably peas in kitchen gardens.  Disliked by gardeners.  In June, about twenty years ago, I shot a young bird which was feeding on my peas in company with one or two more.  An interesting note on the food and habits of the hawfinch, as observed at Epping by the late Mr Doubleday, will be found in The Zoologist for 1843, p40 and 1856, p 5098.  He remarked that this bird is particularly find of the seeds of the hornbeam, and is always more common in the Forest when a fine warm spring has favoured the flowering of the hornbeam and produced a plentiful crop of seeds.

Bullfinch.  It used to be frequent throughout this neighbourhood, but it so predatory among the fruit trees, that I am not surprised it has become scarcer.

Chaffinch. Very common, and nearly as mischievous as the preceding.

Common Bunting.  “Used to be more frequent than now, I have often had nests with eggs brought to me by the mowers” JLE.  “Fairly common outside Forest.” AB.

Snow Bunting. One example of this bird was killed by a stone on Epping Plain.  Another was killed by and old sportsman.

Yellow Hammer. Common.

Black-headed Bunting.  Common in summer in bushes along the Roding, and rushy places.

Goldfinch. Used often to be caught by bird-catchers on Wanstead Flats.  “Seen about the lanes of Loughton.” AB.

Siskin. Occasional winter visitor to Wanstead Park.  I saw one about the alders in 1882; three were seen in February 1884.  “Visits Alders, Higham Park.” HCP.

Linnet. Large numbers were taken by bird-catchers on Wanstead Flats a few years ago.  I have talked with these me when at work with their clap-nets, and they told me they often caught lesser redpolls, these and the linnets they put in cages; but greenfinches, which they took in prodigious numbers, were killed at once. And tied by the neck in bunches of a score each and sold to the London markets.  The numbers were far greater than could have been produced in the district, but in spring and autumn, when the bird-catchers ply their trade, there is a general shifting of quarters by these birds, so that many caught in the Forest must have come from a distance.

Lesser Redpoll.  Loughton Forest and Wanstead Flats, often seen feeding on the silver birches.

Mealy Redpoll.  This pretty species only appears at long intervals, and, like the crossbill in considerable numbers, probably in the quest for food.  “Some years ago many examples were trapped by myself and H. Doubleday.” JLE.

Skylark.  Common and generally distributed.

Meadow Pipit.  A common winter resident here.  Its quickly repeated note, as it rises with jerking flight, cheers the sadness of our flats in winter.

Tree Pipit. Frequent about the borders of the woods.  As soon as it arrives in April its song is constantly heard as it soars to considerable height and descends with motionless and outstretched wings.

Common Wren.  Everywhere.

Robin.  Everywhere.

Pied Wagtail.  A common resident.  The greater number go south, to return about the end of February dressed in their summer plumage.  Those that remain retain their winter garb until the spring is farther advanced.

Yellow Wagtail.  Used to be frequent in summer, but now scarce.  Common by the Roding.

Gray Wagtail.  Not uncommon along the Roding in winter.

Bee-eater.  Observed at Wanstead by HI.

Spotted Flycatcher.  A common summer visitor; but the latest of all to arrive except the nightjar.

Pied Flycatcher.  A female bird of this species was taken in the Forest by a bird-catcher on the 13th September 1877, and was forwarded to Mr Harting for identification.  It was kept alive for some days on chopped egg and meal worms.  Two examples were shot in the Theydon Grove, and are in the Doubleday collection.

Nightingale.  Well distributed over our district.  The cock bird arrives first and sings best while he is waiting for his mate to join him.  When the nesting is far advanced, his song is reduced to a tuneless croak.  If a trap is baited with meal worms they do not seem to be able to resist the temptation, and they are consequently easily caught.  In the spring of 1858 an old Leytonstone bird-catcher caught thirty-four about the avenues. I lately found one of these gentry, who mostly hail from Whitechapel, outside my fence at Knighton.  He was at the time engaged in catching cock chaffinches with bird lime, using a tame hen chaffinch as a decoy–an old device.  In reply to the hope which I expressed that he did not catch nightingales, he replied, “No sir, we seldom catches ‘em, and when we does, we lets ‘em go.” For the preternatural innocence with which this was said, it was perhaps true.  The nest are placed on the ground in dense herbage, and are fortunately difficult to find.

Redstart. Frequent in summer, and a great ornament to our Forest.

Hedge Sparrow.  Very common.

Alpine Accentor. Many years ago a specimen of this rare little bird was shot in a garden on the borders of the Forest by Mr James Pamplin of Whip’s Cross Nursery, Walthamstow.  It was taken to London and identified by the late Mr Gould, and will be found recorded in the Magazine of Natural History for 1832, p. 288.

Garden Warbler.  Very common in undergrowth in Wanstead Park and elsewhere–April and May.  A beautiful singer.

Reed Warbler. “I have seen it a Knighton, where it has nested, but it is a rare bird in the neighbourhood.” AR. “Heard singing at Connaught Water.” KCB.

Sedge Warbler.  Common in the spring by the Roding, Red Bridge, in Wanstead Park, and on Ching Brook

Grasshopper Warbler. Very rare.

Blackcap.  Arrives early in April, and is common in the forest and gardens, but especially in Wanstead Park, where the wood echoes in early summer with its fine song.

White-throat. In every hedge in spring and summer.

Lesser White-throat.  A regular summer visitor to our gardens; a restless, noisy little bird.

Chiff Chaff. Our earliest spring visitor.

Willow Wren. Very common everywhere when April comes.  The approximate dates of arrival of the three species of Willow Wren in the Forest are–Chiff Chaff 31st March; Willow Wren, 3rd April; Wood Wren, 15th April.

Wood Wren.  Local rather than rare, generally frequenting tall trees, and the latest of the three willow wrens to appear, arriving usually in the third week of April.  All three species breed in the Forest.  The nest of the wood wren may always be known from those of the others by never having any feathers in the lining.

Golden-crested Wren.  Common throughout the year.

Fire-crested Wren.  A bird of this species, taken by a bird-catcher in Epping, 26th November 1878, is preserved in the collection of British birds in British museum.

Wheatear.  A passing migrant in spring and autumn, generally seen on Chingford golf links.

Whinchat.  A summer visitor, breeding in the open forest.

Stonechat.  Breeds on the open forest; a few remain throughout the year.  “Now very rare.” AB.

Great Titmouse (Oxeye).  Common all the year.  A noisy pugnacious little bird, who resents, with angry chatter, intrusion into its thickets.  They freely build in boxes placed for the purpose against the trees in my garden.  I have more than once known the hen bird, when covering the young ones, to fly at my hand when I have opened the lid.  They appear to very fond of the seeds of the yew,  “Oxeyes have built regularly for five-and-twenty years in the hollow of an old cherry-tree on my lawn, 3 feet from the ground.  One season the usual time had passed without their beginning operations, and I found some stones had been dropped into the hole; I removed these, and the following day the nest was begun and the brood was brought off in due course.” AL.

Blue Titmouse.  Common all the year.

Cole Titmouse.  Very common in gardens, as well as in the Forest.

Marsh Titmouse.  Common.  Its name is misleading as it is not a marsh bird in any sense.

Longtailed Titmouse.  Resident and not uncommon.  Families of ten or more keep together throughout the winter and flit from tree to tree, scouring them for insects.  Their pretty oval nest is desired by boys and they are scarcer than they were.

Sand-Martin.  Numbers used to breed in holes in the railway cutting between Leytonstone and Wanstead.  They are the earliest of the swallows to appear, often arriving in March.

House-Martin.  Not so common as they ought to be.  The vast number of sparrows in the neighbourhood is hostile to their increase.  A friend and neighbour increased the number of house-martins’ nests on his house from two to ninety, simply by waging unsparing war on the sparrows.

Chimney Swallow.  In the late summer these birds gather in thousands to roost in the reed-bed in the pond in Cook’s Folly.  This seems to be the general rendezvous for the district, and at sunset they may be seen flying in small companies from every direction towards this point.  The confused noise as they swarm like bees to gain a foothold among the reeds is most remarkable.  They also use a large clump of bamboo by my pond for the same purpose.  In August 1855 a pure white swallow was observed at Epping.

Swift.  Common from May to August.

Goatsucker or Nightjar.  Frequently seen during summer in the Forest, where they breed on the ground, laying two oval eggs of a marked gray colour.  Unless my deceived me I saw one, when suddenly disturbed carry off one of its eggs between its thighs.

Woodpigeon.  Great numbers breed in the Forest, and their exquisite note may be constantly heard.  When there is much less beech-mast immense flocks swarm in Monk Wood and Theydon, and the ground even looks gray with their droppings.

Stockdove.  A few in winter and summer. It nests in holes in trees.

Turtledove. A constant summer visitor.  I have seen flocks of them about Walthamstow in late summer.  Its plaintive note may be frequently heard in Theydon Thickets at the time of incubation.

Pheasant.  There are a fair number of wild-bred pheasants in the Forest, and many reared in the neighbouring woods come in for acorns in the autumn.

Partridge.  A good many pairs, both of gray and red-legged kinds, breed on the more open parts of the Forest.

Thick-knees, Stone Curlew or Norfolk Plover.  I saw this bird on the 21st April 1883 on one of the open “plains” in the Fairmead Thicket; when it rose it flew a few yards only and re-alighted.  I should not have known what it was if I had not been the company of a well-known naturalist.  A young bird of this species was captured on the borders of the Lower Forest.

Golden Plover.  Not uncommon in winter.  A flock of more than a hundred frequent Wanstead Park and the fields adjoining in company with lapwings and fieldfares in March 1883.  Flocks also frequent Thornwood Common.  Many of the male birds showed much black about the neck and breast.

Gray Plover.  Has been found by the Roding in late autumn.  It is generally considered a strictly maritime bird, and therefore its occurrence in the Forest is remarkable.  One procured by the late MR Doubleday of Epping is preserved in the British Museum.

Lapwing. Frequently seen in flocks about the fields near Wanstead Park and elsewhere,  in the “Sixties” they used to breed on Fairmead and near the Wake Arms, but have ceased to do so.  They are now seldom seen within the Forest, but there are some fields just outside its limits to which they still resort in spring.

Landrail or Corncrake. A summer visitor nesting and remaining till the middle of September.

Water-Rail.  Not so rare as is sometimes supposed.  Owing to their silence and habit of creeping along the sides of brooks and rarely taking to the water, they are not often seen; but they are sometimes very noisy in the breeding season.

Heron.  These birds come to the heronry in Wanstead Park at the end of January or beginning of February, and once begin nesting operations.  The old nests seem to require little repair.  The number of nest for the last twenty years was a follows:

1882	40
1883	36
1884	41
1885	45
1886	48
1887	46
1888	49
1889	51
1890	53
1891	50
1892	56
1893	61
1894	68
1895	55
1896	53
1897	48
1898	50
1899	50
1900	48
1901	45

The young birds may be heard in the nest early in March,  The birds do not seem to mind poele, but I think there is some danger of their being evicted by the rooks, which have greatly increased of recent years.  They are continually fighting the herons in the air, and instances are not unknown of a heronry being driven out in this way.  The greater number of these birds leave the heronry towards the middle of the summer, but a few remain throughout the year.

Woodcock.  These birds are not infrequent visitors to the Forest in the winter months, but the absence of springs and the hardness of the soli are unfavourable to them and they are never numerous where cattle have access.  They do not, therefore, generally remain long, but instances have been known of their staying through the summer and breeding.

Snipe.  Often common by the Roding in Winter, and not unfrequent by Forest ponds.  I saw a pair on the ground near Monk Wood, March 1897.

Jacksnipe.  “I put up one by the Roding near Red Bridge, and, hiding myself, watched him return to the same spot after a long flight, a well known peculiarity of the bird.” AL.  I saw one on Piercing Hill in 1885.

Bittern.  A specimen was killed a few years ago by the stream adjoining Wanstead Park.

Black-headed Gull.  An occasional visitor in spring and autumn.

Common Sandpiper.  Occasionally seen in spring and autumn by Leytonstone Pond, the waters in Wanstead Park, and by the Roding.  I saw one last year by Baldwin’s Hill Pond.

Green Sandpiper.  Occasional visitor in spring and autumn.  One was shot in Mr Barclay’s grounds, Knotts Green. Two others shot near Epping are preserved in the British Museum.

Curlew.  Seen several times and killed at Copped Hall.

Curlew Sandpiper.  A specimen procured by the late Mr Doubleday of Epping was presented by him to the British Museum.

Redshank.  “I saw a single Redshank at Birch Hall, Theydon Bois, April 1905.” AB Breeds by Roding.

Little Stint. Has once at least been procured near Epping.  The specimen referred to is in the British Museum.

Gray Phalarope.  “I set up a fine example of this beautiful bird shot by the Rev. L Cockerell at a brook, North Weald.” JLE Another specimen was killed some years since at Wanstead Park.

Coot.  Breeds in Wanstead Park, where they used to be numerous, but there are now very few left.  They breed, however at Birch Hall.

Moorhen.  Most abundant in Wanstead Park and most of the Forest ponds.

Great-crested Grebe.  Visit the larger sheets of water, such as the reservoirs in the Lea Valley and Wanstead in the spring.

Red-necked Grebe.  “In February 1877 one of these birds remained for almost a week on the basin in Wanstead Park.  I watched it repeatedly with a good telescope.  It was in fine plumage.” AL.

Little Grebe or Dabchick.  A great traveller notwithstanding his short wings.  Breeds in the ponds at Wanstead and elsewhere in the neighbourhood.  Like all the grebes, it constructs a floating nest, which is hard to distinguish from a mass of dirty weed.

Red-Throated Diver. “In January 1877 I watched one of these rare visitors on the Wanstead Basin,  My telescope showed the speckling on the back quite distinctly; it was therefore probably a young bird.” AL.

Wild Duck.  Breed annually in many parts of the Forest.  A large number frequent Connaught Water, Wanstead Park, and other Forest Ponds, and as it is against the rule of the Committee to shoot them, they are delightfully tame.

Widgeon. May be seen occasionally in winter.

Teal. Several frequented the Wanstead Park waters in the spring of 1883, and in the following spring I saw a single bird on Connaught Water,  We hope that it will take to breeding there,  In hard weather it frequents the Roding.

Scaup.  A flock of seven or eight remained on the Wanstead basin for several days a few winters ago.  They were very shy.

Tufted Duck.  Early in 1884 a male and three females frequented the upper pond in Wanstead Park for two months in company with coots, and became almost as tame as they are.  The male bird left us towards the ned of February, but the females were still there March 7.  Connaught Water, Eagle Pond.

Pochard.  Has been observed at Wanstead.  On two occasions a single bird visited my pond and remained some weeks, consorting with the tame ducks, and becoming himself very tame.  A single bird came to the Wanstead ponds early in the season some years ago and remained more than a month.  At first he was very wild, but towards the end of his stay became tamer.  Later on probably the same bird returned and kept company with the tufted ducks, acquiring their tameness.  He went away with the male tufted duck towards the end of February.  In March 1905 G Buxton counted forty pochard at Birch Hall, Theydon Bois on his pond.

Pintail.  Occasionally seen in winter at Wanstead Park and other places.

Goosander.  A flock of fifteen in immature plumage remained on the Basin at Wanstead for five days during the winter of 1885.  “It was an interesting sight to watch the graceful fishing operations of these birds with a good telescope.  After swimming in a compact company for a considerable time, they would all suddenly commence diving, probably having come over a shoal of fish, for may would be seen emerging with a fish in their bills, and, if one was too large to be immediately swallowed, a scramble would take place, and it would change beaks several times before being finally disposed of.” AL.

Wild Geese.  Flocks seen flying overhead during the winter months, especially brent, and gray of some species.

Little Owl.  An importation since this book was first issued.  It has greatly multiplied in some districts.  Is often seen in meadows outside the Forest,  Not popular with poultry.