31 



ON THE RARITY OF CERTAIN BIRDS IN DERBY- 



SHIRE, 





abundant in other parts op britain. 



By Neville Wood, Esq. 



• 



Few features are more remarkable in the ornithology of the flat 

 portions of this district, than the scarcity or the non-appearance of 

 several birds which abound in almost every other part of the king- 

 dom. As the ornithologist cannot fail being interested in the cir- 

 cumstance, I propose, in this paper, to give an account of such 

 species, and to attempt to assign some reason for so extraordinary 

 an occurrence. 



The Corn Bunting (Emberiza miliaria), according to every 

 British author who has written on the subject, is common in every 

 part of the kingdom, and as abundant in the Orkneys as elsewhere. 

 Here, however, in the plain portion of Derbyshire, the species is 

 rarely met with. I have seen it only in two or three instances in 

 these parts ; and every one with whom I have conversed on the 

 subject appears perfectly ignorant of the existence of the " Common 

 Bunting." Near Tutbury, on the borders of Staffordshire, three 

 miles from the spot where I formerly resided, it is seldom met with, 

 and the nest, when found in that neighbourhood, is considered a 

 rarity. But about a mile beyond Tutbury, and indeed in almost 

 every part of Staffordshire which I have explored, it is as common 

 as I have found it to be in other districts both to the north and 

 south of this county. During the number of years which I have 

 passed in Derbyshire, the species under consideration has always 

 appeared to me in the light of a rare bird, and were it not for its 

 abundance in the adjoining counties, my knowledge of its habits 

 would be very deficient. Its manners, or at least its general eco- 

 nomy, are so familiar to almost every one, that they need not be 

 detailed in this communication, especially as I have elsewhere en- 

 larged upon them at some length.* 



The south west portion of Derbyshire is extremely fertile and 

 well cultivated, and the corn fields, which everywhere abound, 

 present as inviting an aspect as those of any other county ; and yet 

 the Corn Bunting never makes its appearance, although it usually 



* In the British Song Birds. 



