BIRDS 



quantity of wire through the tree tops, to say 

 nothing of forming it into a perfect nest, is 

 marvellous. There are a few herons nesting 

 at Thoresby Park, also at Clumber and New- 

 stead. 



128. Purple Heron. Ardea purpurea, Linn. 

 One of these birds was shot at Clifton near 



Nottingham in 1868, and Mr. Forman has 

 one which was shot at Colwick some years 

 back. Rose the naturalist once showed me a 

 bird which looked very much like a cross 

 between the purple species and the common 

 heron, showing in its plumage markings of 

 each. 



129. Great White Heron. Ardea alba, Linn. 

 Mr. Foljambe has a fine specimen of this 



bird in his collection, which was shot at 

 Osberton. 



130. Squacco Heron. Ardea ra//otdes, Scopoli. 

 This is another very rare straggler ; one 



was shot by a keeper at Bestwood Park in 

 August 1871, and is in my collection. 



131. Night Heron. Nycticorax griseus (Linn.) 

 Only one specimen has been noted, which 



was shot in the autumn of 1820 at South 

 Clifton by Mr. Bassett. 



132. Little Bittern. Ardetta minuta (Linn.) 

 A rare summer visitor. One was put up 



from some flags on the side of the Trent near 

 Newark and shot, and another was shot on 

 24 May 1870 near Worksop. 



133. Bittern. Botaurus stellarls (Linn.) 

 There are many records of this bird having 



been killed in various parts of the county, of 

 which I may mention the following : at Col- 

 wick in 1848 ; at Clifton in 1871 ; on 

 Rainworth Water a pair, male and female, were 

 shot, and on one of the keepers holding the 

 former up by the legs five or six trout dropped 

 from its throat ; one was shot at Beeston in 

 1871 ; several during the severe winter of 

 1 88 1 ; one in the winter of 1891, and one 

 was shot at Welbeck in January 1903. 



134. White Stork. Ciconia a/ba y Bechstein. 

 Two instances only are recorded. In 1825 



one was shot near Bawtry in the north corner 

 of the county ; and in 1829 a flock was seen 

 not far from the same place and two were 

 killed. 



135. Spoonbill. Platalea leucorodia, Linn. 

 The visits of this bird are now few and far 



between. In July 1831 one was followed by 

 Mr. Gee at Girton-on-Trent, but was not 



captured. In the winter of 1 847 one was shot 

 by Mr. Maltby near Toton on the Notts side of 

 the Erewash ; and in 1843 one was seen on 

 the side of Rainworth Waters. 



136. Gray Lag Goose. Amer dnereus, Meyer. 

 Rare, but has been seen on Thoresby and 



Ruffbrd lakes. Sir Thomas White shot one 

 on his lake at Wallingwells, and another was 

 shot on the pond at Papplewick in 1885, and 

 sent to me by the late Mr. Henry Walter. 



137. White-fronted Goose. Amer albifrons 



(Scopoli) 



In Mr. Felkin's list he states that this 

 goose has been killed in Nottinghamshire; 

 several were shot on the Trent in the great 

 frost of 1891. 



138. Bean Goose. Anser segetum (J. F. 



Gmelin) 



This goose has been obtained several times 

 on the Trent near Newark ; Mr. Musters 

 shot two of these birds at Annesley in the 

 winter of 1891, when seven were about there 

 for a month. 



139. Pink-footed Goose. Anser brachyrhyn- 



cbus, Baillon. 



I am only aware of one record of this 

 goose having been obtained in Notts, which 

 was in the winter of 1888-9 when Mr. W. 

 P. Sutton shot one at Langar in the south 

 of the county. 



140. Bernacle Goose. Bernicla leucopsis (Bech- 



stein) 



In September 1869 fifty-two of these birds 

 flew close over my head at Ramsdale, and 

 were so near that I had no difficulty in dis- 

 tinguishing the species. One was shot flying 

 over a garden at Mansfield a few years back, 

 and another at Eastwood in December 1890. 



141. Brent Goose. Bernicla brenta (Pallas) 

 The late Mr. Foottit shot one near Newark- 



on-Trent, and another was shot by the Rev. 

 R. Sutton in the same neighbourhood in the 



winter of 1850. 



i 



[Canada Goose. Anser canadensis (Linn.) 



These birds are seen every winter flying 



over in small and big companies, and they 



nest on several pieces of water ; the greater 



proportion are, I feel sure, domesticated ones.] 



[Egyptian Goose. Anser egypticus (Linn.) 

 A party of six was seen on the Trent near 

 Clifton Hall on 5 December 1873, when two 

 of them were killed ; one was shot at East- 

 wood in 1868.] 



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