A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



shot feeding on rabbits, which abound in this 

 fine park. 



115. Goshawk. Astur palumbarius (Linn.) 



There are only two instances of the oc- 

 currence of this rare hawk in Nottingham- 

 shire ; one was shot by a keeper at Ruffbrd in 

 1848, and the other on Mansfield Forest. 



n 6. Sparrow Hawk. Accipiter nisus (Linn.) 

 Fairly common in autumn but not as a nest- 

 ing species. 



117. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny. 



Two of these now very rare hawks were 

 shot at Clifton near Nottingham a good many 

 years ago, and a female was shot by Mr. 

 Wells near Edwinstowe in 1860. The late 

 Mr. Sterland saw one flying over the forest in 

 May 1847 ; another was shot in November 

 1875 at Chilwell near Nottingham. 



1 1 8. Honey Buzzard. Perms apivorus (Linn.) 



Several of these birds have been shot and 

 trapped in Nottinghamshire. A pair were killed 

 in Ploughman Wood near Lowdham in the 

 summer of 1842, and another pair, male and 

 female, were both caught in the same trap by 

 their legs on 26 April 1858 ; other records 

 are, a female at Rufford in 1854, one at Toton 

 October 1863, and a pair shot near Park Hall 

 in 1897 ; the latter are in Mr. Musters' col- 

 lection. 



119. Peregrine Falcon. Falco peregrinus, 



Tunstall. 



I have notes of a good many occurrences 

 of this bird. Of these I may mention one 

 shot at Ramsdale by my late father's bailiff 

 in 1840, and others shot at Ruffbrd, Park 

 Hall, Kirton and Rainworth. The last I 

 saw was in 1899. 



1 2O. Hobby. Falco subiutto, Linn. 



A summer visitor, but I once saw one in 

 Newstead Park on 9 December 1877, a ^ so 

 another near Rainworth in July 1875. It 

 has been shot at Ruffbrd, Ollerton, and other 

 places. 



121. Merlin. Falco tesalon, Tunstall. 



This bird has bred in Sherwood Forest, 

 and has been shot and seen many times at 

 Ruffbrd ; two were seen at Thrumpton and 

 were caught at one time in a clap-net near 

 Trent station. In November 1870 I shot 

 the largest specimen of this falcon I have ever 

 seen ; it was a female and was half as large 

 again as the usual size. 



122. Kestrel. Falco tinnuncu/uiy Linn. 

 Fairly common and nests in several places. 



Many come to us in autumn, and a cream- 

 coloured variety was seen at Park Hall in 1880. 

 It is very much scarcer than it was thirty 

 years ago. 



123. Osprey. Pandion haliat'tus (Linn.) 

 The following occurrences are recorded : 



one shot on the Trent near Nottingham 

 in 1839 ; a female caught alive at Beeston 

 Rylands in the same year ; one seen flying 

 over Thoresby Lake in 1855, which remained 

 about there for several weeks ; one shot at 

 East Bridgeford in 1865 ; one shot years ago 

 at Newstead Abbey ; one seen over Rainworth 

 Water in 1866 ; one caught in a hawk-trap 

 at Clipstone in the spring of 1871 ; one shot 

 near Nottingham in 1881 ; and one caught 

 at Rainworth in 1880. 



124. Cormorant. Phalacrocorax carbo (Linn.) 

 One was shot on Thoresby Lake in August 



1864 ; and another some years back at Lamb 

 Close, Eastwood ; also one at Annesley in 

 1883, and one on Mansfield reservoir in 

 April 1886. 



125. Shag or Green Cormorant. Phalacro- 



corax graculus (Linn.) 



Two were shot at Burton Joyce on the 

 Trent in July 1851 ; in November 1879 a 

 man who was going to his work came upon 

 two of these birds in Cross Street, Notting- 

 ham, both of which he caught ; another was 

 shot on the same day while sitting on the 

 roof of a factory on Mapperley Plains. 



126. Gannet or Solan Goose. Sula bassana 



(Linn.) 



It is curious that this sea-loving bird should 

 be so often found in this inland county. I 

 have notes of the gannet having been shot on 

 more than a dozen occasions. A full adult 

 which is now in my collection was caught by 

 a fox on the side of a pond at Fountain Dale ; 

 the fox was seen dragging the bird along by 

 its neck, but left it on being run after. 



127. Common Heron. Ardea cinerea, Linn. 

 I am delighted to say this fine bird is fairly 



plentiful, and I often see three or four from 

 my windows. The strongest heronry in the 

 county is at Stoke, where there are about forty 

 nests. It belongs to Sir Harry Bromley, who 

 kindly gave me a most wonderful nest which 

 was blown out of a tree ; the greater part is 

 made of wire with a stick intertwined here 

 and there, and how the bird ever got this 



i6G 



