BIRDS SHOT BY THE RKV. FRANCIS GISBORNK. 207 



19. 2 Old Cock Grouse, 2 Old Hens do., 2 Pools do. 



Sept. & Oct. Shot 8 or ten Brace of Pars., I Land-rail.'^' 

 Oct. 17. Shot at a male Sparr. Hawk off our Barn. 



1778.— In Aug. at Southprt., i Crow, i Pign. a. o. s. 

 Sept. Staveley, 2 Pars. 

 Oct. I Woodcock in company with Mr. D- Poxlow ;'^' also i 



Snpe., I Jack do., i Par., i Snpe. before. 

 Novr. 4 or 5 Snpes., i W. C, i Par., 1 Rat. 

 1779.(70) Jan. 7. I Snpe., I Mallrd., 8 Rooks. 



Friday, May 28, 1779. Shot from off a Gate-post at the corner of 

 the Bridge over the Forge Rivulet, in the Sprousley, near the 

 Pastures Gate, an Osprey,'''' which agreed in its marks 

 very nearly with Mr. Pennant's description of that Bird, except 

 that this bird weighed only 59 oz. avoirdupois, but the wings 

 extended tight measured from tip to tip five feet six inches 

 and a half. N.B. — The above was in good condition, but 

 with an empty stomach. The legs short, but the thighs pretty 

 long. The talons semicircular and black, and nearly of equal 

 length ; the underside of the feet and toes remarkably rough 

 with horny points, for the better holding of its slippery prey ; 

 the outer toe so movable as to form a second hind toe, and a 

 third forward, as in Owls. Not the least sign of the left foot's 



*" / Landrail (Crex Praiensis). — The keeper of the Staveley Cemetery 

 mowed over a nest of the eggs of this bird in the summer of 1891. Un- 

 fortunately, although endeavours were made to secure the hatching, the nest 

 was ultimately forsaken. 



7771?. — This was the year in which the Rector lost his broth er, the 

 General. It is more than probable that this bereavement prevented for the 

 time 50 keen an interest being taken in the use of the gun. 



(69) Mr. D. Fo.xloui. — Some member of the Foxlow family whom I cannot 

 identify. Samuel Foxlow married as second wife the Rector's sister, Dorothy, 

 and along with the Rev. Fletcher Dixon, who married the other sister, 

 Catherine, occupied Staveley Hall in tw-o tenements for many years. 



(701 777^. — A frost this winter lasted 84 days. (Belsham's " Chronology.") 



17'' An Osprey (Pandion Halliaetos). — This, no doubt, is the most important 

 and most interesting entry in the whole register. It speaks for itself, and only 

 the enthusiast in the pursuit of any science or any " ology " can enter into the 

 feelings of the good Rector as he watched this '" rara avis " topple off the post 

 from a charge, probably, of the long gun, and carried his somewhat unwieldy 

 prize home. There, making the very careful description which finds place in 

 this register. \Yhat a tale he must have bad to tell to his brother sportsmen 

 of this grand bird ! Mr. Gisborne's second cousin, the Rev. Thos. Gisborne, 

 of Yoxal Lodge, thus writes in his poetical work, " Walks in a Forest " : — 



" And ospreys plunging from their cloudy height 

 With leaden fall precipitate, the waves 

 Cleave with deep-dashing breast, and, labouring, rise 

 Talons and beak o'erloaded," 



