178 BIRDS SHOT BY THE REV. FRANCIS GISBORNE, 



1761. Aug. 2oth.w 3 Pars. 



2 Pars. 



I Par., i Do. with Mr. Lvishton,*'' i Land 



Rail, I Quail. <3) 

 7 Pars., I Rabbit. 

 5 Pars. 

 4 Pars., 2 of 'em a. O. Sht.,'*' i Wd. Pign. or 



Ring Dove, I Fern Owl. 



4 Par. with Captn. Lushton. '=' 



1 Quail, I Par., 2 Snpes. 



2 Snpes. 



I Par. at Bobbing. '** 



I Par. Do. 



I Hre., 2 Buntg. Larks, I Lark at Linton, '" 

 I Hre., I Hre., I H. Pheasant at Do. 

 24th. 2 Larks, I Par., I W. C.,'" 2 Jck. Snpes., I Fid. 



Fare, I Ring Dove. 

 31st. I Bl. bird. 



<"' August. — It will be observed that the register commences with a record of 

 partridges killed in the month of August, the game laws for securing the present 

 close time for partridges being of comparatively modern date. It was not until 

 2 and 3 Geo. III. c. 19, 1762-1763, that the law was passed enacting "that 

 no person shall upon any pretence whatsoever, take, kill, carry, sell, buy, or 

 have in possession or use any partridge between February 12th and 

 September 1st, or any pheasant between February ist and October 1st, yearly, 

 on pain of forfeiting ^^5 for every such fowl, wiih costs." 



<=' \ Do. with Mr. Lushton. — This is evidently a touch of sportsmanlike 

 courtesy. The bird fell, no doubt, to both guns, and the worthy rector would 

 lay claim to no more than his share, and at the same time acknowledge his 

 companion's skill. How different from the hasty exclamation of the self 

 assertive sportsman, " My bird ! ! " 



l=t Mr. Lushton. — Probably an abbreviation of Lushington. The Rev. 

 F. Gisborne's cousin Dorothy married Thomas Godfrey Lushington, of Derby, 

 and the entry no doubt refers to some member of this family. 



l3) Quail. — The existence of the Staveley Coal and Iron Works would be 

 quite sufficient to account for the disappearance of this bird from this parish. 

 Mr. Edwd. Clulow, of Derby, tells me that he shot two on the same day at 

 Draycott, in the year 1886, and on the South Downs of my native county of 

 Sussex, a bevy of quail is no uncommon sight, and specimens are frequently 

 bagged. They are protected by "The Wild Birds Protection Act, 1880." 



'••* A. O. Sht. — This abbreviation is of frequent occurrence. Translated it 

 means " at one shot." Sometimes it conveyed a great deal. 



I5I Captn. Lushton. — I have no means of identifying this gentleman. But I 

 find that Thomas Godfrey Lushington, of Derby, had a son William ; and in 

 an old army list of 1763, I find a Major William Lushington in the 

 i6th Dragoons. Possibly this may be the gallant officer to whom the entry 

 refers. 



(*l Bobbing, Linton. — Names not known in this immediate neighbourhood. 



Dec. — " The season so mild that many pear trees about town were in blossom, 

 and primroses and daisies appeared in the fields." — (Belsham's " Chronology.") 



') I W. C— Woodcock. 



