that the species was rapidly increasing, and a year later expressed the fear that
bird-catchers from London would thin the population. By 1859 the bird had
disappeared from the Forest. An individual was recorded in 1905 (Glegg, 1929),
but there was no evidence of breeding again until the early 1940's; the
population reached a peak about 1953, and the last breeding record was in 1961
(Hudson and Pyman, 1968).
COMPARISON WITH OTHER AREAS
Too many observers have looked at Epping Forest in isolation. For that
reason it is worth noting that comparison with other sites is far from irrelevant.
One such locality is Poors' Field, Ruislip, in Middlesex, which features
prominently in the ornithological records of the London Natural History Society
and which carried populations of red-backed shrike and Woodlark during the
period that they were noted in Epping Forest. Poors' Field is an area of old
pasture that has been invaded by hawthorn scrub as the result of a decline in
cattle grazing (Morris, 1959; Wrighton, 1959), and is adjacent to ancient
woodland of oak-hornbeam coppice. The decline in its red-backed shrike
population has been documented by Crooks (1967), whilst Bowlt (1962)
recorded the changing status of the Woodlark in the area. It is obvious that
Poors' Field has many similarities with Epping Forest, but there is one interest-
ing difference: there was no scrub removal.
One problem with the historical data for Epping Forest is that it obscures
the patterns of change in those breeding species that have fluctuated in num-
bers. Perhaps the most outstanding example of this is the magpie (Pica pica),
which had become so rare by the late 1930's that the London Bird Report for
1936 stated "one pair bred successfully, Epping Forest". Yet there was nothing
remarkable about the decline of magpies in Epping Forest during the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; the same trend was well-established
both in the London area generally (Montier, 1977), and in Britain as a whole
(Parslow, 1973).
The loss of the nightjar from the Forest is attributed to the decline of
heathland as a result of decreased grazing pressure, but this is another species
that has become less common over the country generally and Parslow (1973)
rightly suggests that another factor, possibly climatic, must also be operating.
Our ignorance of such factors shows how little advanced is our understanding of
either the ecology of individual species or of woodland ecosystems generally.
This is not to suggest that habitat changes are without significance for bird
populations in the Forest, but all too often the exact nature of the relationship is
obscure. It is easy enough to understand why the lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) no
longer breeds around the Wake Arms as it did in the 1860's, but it is difficult to
reconcile the statements of those (e.g. Wallace, 1971) who consider increased
public disturbance to be a cause of declining bird populations with the fact that
skylarks (Aluada arvensis) still breed successfully as far south as Wanstead
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