CORVIDAE—CROWS.
133
been " not uncommon " around Sudbury in 1838. Mr. Buxton says of Epping
Forest (47. 84) :
" This predatory foe to other birds is happily not common hereabouts. There
are several about Loughton, and they breed regularly in the Rectory garden. A
pair used always to breed at Knighton, but I have not observed them for two or
three years."
The Rev. J. C. Atkinson writes (36. 90) :
" I used to be assured as a school-boy that there were two sorts or varieties of
Magpies, distinguished by the comparative length of their tails and the site of
their nests :—the alleged short-tailed one was called the Bush Magpie ; the other
the Tree Magpie. It is almost idle to say no such variety or distinction really
exists."
Mr. Sackett informs me of one shot near Grays "having a deformed beak, the
upper mandible being curved to the right like that of the Crossbill." Round
Harwich, it is fairly common and breeds (Kerry). On December 26th, 1875, I saw
several at Chignal St. James, and on January 1st following one at Roxwell. About
the same time the keeper here trapped another. On June 16th following, I saw
another at Broomfield. In 1877, a nest of eggs was hatched in the Boyton Hall
Springs. In the Paglesham district, fifty years ago, Dr. Laver says (50. iii. 33) :
"Magpies' nests might be frequently seen, the highest tree being a favourite
position. Sometimes they chose most unlikely spots only a few feet from the
ground : at other times they nested in fruit-trees in a garden close to the house.
I am sorry to say this bird is now rarely seen in my district."
Jackdaw : Corvus monedula.
An abundant resident, breeding chiefly in holes in large old trees
in parks. Pied or albino examples occasionally occur.
At 3.30 a.m. on July 11th, 1881, I saw a small flock down in the Market
Square, Saffron Walden—a very unusual locality for them, surely ! In the sum-
mer of 1883, a nest containing two pure white and two normally-coloured young
birds was taken near Harlow Mill. The white birds were tamed and kept in the
vicinity for some time. Early in January 1879, the keeper at Mark Hall, Latton,
shot a pure white specimen which had been seen about the park for some months
(Chelmsford Chronicle, Jan. 16). " T. S. H.," also records that a white specimen
was shot in Essex in Oct. 1857 (29. July 3, 1858).
Carrion Crow : Corvus corone.
A resident in various parts of the county, though local and no-
where abundant. It is rapidly becoming scarcer through persecution.
As long ago as 1845, Mr. Clarke
noted (24), that they were " not
so frequent as they used to
be" round Saffron Walden,
though King, in 1838, described
it (20) as still "common" around
Sudbury.
Lieut. Legge, writing from Shoe-
bury in 1866, says (34. 600) it " is very
plentiful here, breeding both in the tall trees in the lowlands and in the extensive
woods near Hadleigh. They do not nest as early in the season as they are said