DISTRIBUTION OF THE NIGHTINGALE. 17 



low lying Trent valley and the flat, well timbered district which 

 extends roughly from Derby in the north to jMelbourne and 

 Burton in the south, and from Tutbury on the w^est side to 

 Trent Junction on the east. In this part of the county it occurs 

 not infrequently, but by no means annually even here. Glover 

 mentions one as heard in Normanton Lane, near Derby, in 

 1828 ; Neville Wood, in 1836, wrote that a few pairs usually 

 frequented the Foston and Allesley Woods, and J. J. Briggs, 

 in 1849, stated that it visited the Melbourne district every 

 spring. One bird was shot here in 1848, and a nest was taken 

 and described in the Zoologist (1849, p. 2,484). In 1863 Sir 0. 

 Mosley and Mr. E. Brown described it as sometimes occurring 

 in considerable numbers, and in other years as altogether 

 absent in the Burton and Tutbury districts. About 1853 

 there was a great influx of this species, and the song w^as heard 

 in almost every wood near Burton, but from that time up to 

 1863 it only occurred rarely. About 1881 and 1882 a pair or 

 two nested near Wellington and Bretley. Several pairs 

 appeared to have bred in the Derby district in 1901, and in 

 this year they were probably general in the south of the 

 countv (W. H. Walton). In 1908 the song was again heard 

 near Derby (W. H. Walton), and in 1909 at Chellaston (C. H. 

 Wells). Probably in most seasons a pair or two would be 

 found in the Trent valley if carefully looked for. 



Above the junction of the rivers Dove and Trent it does not, 

 as a rule, penetrate to any great distance. It has already been 

 stated that it ranges to Foston and Tutbur}^, but occasionally 

 it has been known to work its way up much higher. Thus 

 Sir 0. Mosley saj^s it has been found as far north as Snelston, 

 near Ashburne. On the borders of Snelston and CUfton, 

 Jourdain heard a male in full song in the spring of 1895, and in 

 1901 another was reported only a mile or so away [Victoria 

 History of Derby, I., p. 124). In 1910 one was heard near the 

 entrance to Dovedale, at Thorpe, where it is also reported to 

 have occurred for a day or two in former years. These 

 locahties, as well as two or three on the Staffordshire border, 

 are all in the Dove valley. In the Derwent valley above Derby 

 the only record deserving credence appears to be that of 

 Messrs. Hall and Statham, who report the song as heard in 

 Matlock Dale for a few^ days in 1907. It then ceased, but was 

 heard a few days later down the valley at Duffield.* Appar- 

 ently the males at these outposts failed to attract mates, for 

 both here and at Thorpe the song ceased after a few days, and 



* There is also some reason to believe that it has also been heard at 

 Matlock, about 1872. 



