54 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



in 1862. Its song was heard for a few evenings at Castle 

 Syke Hill in 1868, the bird being eventually captured by a 

 bird-catcher, who used a glow-worm as bait. In the 

 Rotherham district it occurs in all the woods, and is 

 far from uncommon in the delightful vicinity of Roche 

 Abbey, which is just on the fringe of the Coalfield, and 

 only a few miles from the Nottinghamshire border of the 

 county. 



Around Sheffield, Allis reported in 1844 that it was occa- 

 sionally heard near the town, and Mr. J. J. Baldwin Young, 

 writing from Richmond Park, Sheffield, on 30th December 

 1900, states that " Two or three pairs usually nest every year 

 near, and there are other pairs in the same district. This 

 bird is extending its range northward." 



In the Halifax district it is said to have formerly visited 

 Elland Woods, while in Ainley Wood, one was said to have 

 occurred in 1845. 



It has not been recorded to my knowledge from elsewhere 

 on the Coalfield save in the columns of the daily press, which, 

 in matters of this kind, cannot be regarded as reliable. 



In the Central Plain, about York and district, Allis 

 reported in 1844 that it " was heard in the immediate suburbs 

 of York last spring ; has been met with at Skelton, about 

 five miles north of the city, some years ago ; it breeds every 

 year in the wood at Caywood .... it occurs at ... . 

 Bramham Park." Regarding its occurrence within the city, 

 my friend, Mr. James Backhouse, informs me that it has 

 nested once in his garden at Holgate. The Rev. F. W. 

 Hayden writes in 1880 that "the Nightingale is plentiful, 

 comparatively speaking, in Skelton. I possess several eggs of 

 that species taken here, and have had nests in my hand, but, 

 as I have made no record, I can give no dates. ... I know 

 that it resorts to Mr. Dawnay's wood, called Skelton Springs, 

 half a mile from my house on the north, and to a wood called 

 Nova Scotia in this parish, one mile to the east of my house. 

 .... The Nightingale has been noticed in Skelton from of 

 old. I have no reason to believe otherwise than that it 



