. The birds of Essex: a contribution to the natural history of the country. Birds. 240 THE BIRDS OF ESSEX. Family SCOLOPACID^. Avocet: Recurvirostra avocetta. Locally, " ; Formerly a not uncommon summer visitor, but now only a rare visitant to England. The only records of its appearance in Essex I have been able to discover are the fol- lowing :— Dale, mentions it (2. 402) under the name " ; He says it is met with " in these eastern parts [about Harwich] fre- quently. The first time I did see it, was on an Island below Maldon, called Northey,
. The birds of Essex: a contribution to the natural history of the country. Birds. 240 THE BIRDS OF ESSEX. Family SCOLOPACID^. Avocet: Recurvirostra avocetta. Locally, " ; Formerly a not uncommon summer visitor, but now only a rare visitant to England. The only records of its appearance in Essex I have been able to discover are the fol- lowing :— Dale, mentions it (2. 402) under the name " ; He says it is met with " in these eastern parts [about Harwich] fre- quently. The first time I did see it, was on an Island below Maldon, called Northey, anno 1700. In the summer ; At this time of year, it must undoubtedly have been breeding, as it used also to do in Sussex, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, &c. On the north side of the Island, as Mr. E. A. Fitch has informed me, there is still a creek known, and marked on some maps, as "Awl Creek," which name is with very little doubt a relic of the time when the Avocet or'' Awl-bill" bred on its banks. Such survivals are very inter- esting. Mr. Hope remarks that Avocets " oftenland in the winter ; He adds, " One gunner on the Main shot eight at one shot. The late Col. Russell bought them for £\." Several are still among the birds he left, while a fine adult from Essex, now in the Norwich Museum, presented by Col. Russell, was, doubtless, one of the same lot. Mr. Hope also informs me that, on Apr. iith, 1889. about 5 , four were observed to fly in from the east of the Cork Sands. They flew about 120 yards high, and, curving round, took a northerly course up the Deben River. Black-winged Stilt: Hiviantopus candidus. A rare straggler to Britain, which is included in this list on very slight, though I think sufficient, grounds. Mr. Clarke notes (24) that one was seen about 1820 round the pond at his residence, " The Roos," near Saffron Walden. He still remembers being hur- riedly called by a man to see &quo
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1890
