ITS BIRDS.
93
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 marbled gray colour.
Woodpigeon. Great numbers breed in the Forest, and
their exquisite note may be constantly heard.
Stockdove. Always come in May and nest. It nests in
holes in trees.
Turtledove. A constant summer visitor. I have seen flocks
of them about Walthamstow in late summer. Its plain-
woodpigeons.
tive 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 neighbouring woods
come in for acorns in the autumn.
Partridge. A good many pairs, both of the gray and red-
legged kinds, breed on the more open parts of the Forest.
Thick-knee 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 realighted. I should not have known what it