206 NEW ESSEX BOOKS.
There are interesting notes on the appearance of Tufted Ducks
on Connaught Water during the winter months, especially
December, January, and February—a comparatively new
feature there. A flock of fifty—the largest hitherto noted—
was seen on 16 January. There is evidence, too, that this
bird breeds occasionally in the Forest, seven young in down
having been seen, on the Eagle Pond on 23 August, while in
1913 two nests with eggs were found on an island in Connaught
Water. In January, too, large flocks of Lesser Redpolls, running
into hundreds, were noted at High Beach. The Jay was noted
on many occasions, as might be expected in view of the great
extent of the woodland. We have also occasional records of
Green Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, and Golden-crested Wrens.
The Redstart is noted mainly as a passing migrant in the Spring,
seven having been observed on 30 April. It is rather surprising
to read that the Turtle Dove is "far from common" in the
Forest. Clearly, 1916 was not a Hawfinch year, for we
find a record of only one bird seen. The number of nests in
the Heronry increases steadily, having reached (we read) as
many as seventy-two.
The Secretary of the ornithological section, who compiles
this report, is Mr. Arthur Brown, of 44, Ravensdale Road,
Stamford Hill, N.16, who will be glad to receive notes of
observations on birds in the Forest.
Common Buzzards in Essex.—Mr. Colin Murray writes
as follows in a recent issue of British Birds (vol. xi., p. 212) :—
"For the last two years I have observed the Common Buzzard
(Buteo b. buteo) in the neighbourhood of Ilford in late summer
and autumn. In 1916, a single bird haunted the district from
23 to 27 August, and what appeared to be the same bird
was seen again on 26 September and 8 October. It was
in good plumage, with no flight-feathers missing, and was
generally to be seen soaring over a hillock where there is a
rabbit warren. In 1917, a pair frequented the same spot from
20 to 23 July inclusive."
[The bird (or birds) recorded may have been, of course,
genuinely wild ; but the nature of the locality is such that
one is led inevitably to suspect that the bird (or birds) had
escaped at some time from confinement.—Ed.]