BIRDS 



tall firs at Swannington.' Harley recorded that 

 ' during the winter months of 1839-40 the crossbill 

 came to Leicestershire in large flocks.' In February, 

 1854, it visited us in small flocks, and Harley exam- 

 ined a specimen which had its bill and feet daubed 

 over with a substance resembling Venice turpentine in 

 appearance, and probably derived from the cones of 

 the fir. The late Mr. Widdowson's diary records : 

 Crossbill killed, Mr. Gillett, u April, 1868.' And 

 the late Dr. Macaulay reported having seen one at 

 Gumley, in 1881, on 1 1 August, an unusual date. 

 Harley recorded for the first time its nidification in 

 Leicestershire in the summer of 1839. A pair of 

 crossbills made their nest in a fir plantation surround- 

 ing the northernmost part of Bradgate Park, not far 

 from a farm-house known as 'Hall Gates.' It 'was 

 fixed on the branch of a thick fir, some 12 or 1 4 ft. 

 from the ground. The young were fledged and dis- 

 appeared with their parents. Mr. O. Murray-Dixon 

 watched a pair for some time feeding on the young 

 shoots of oak trees in Swithland Hall coverts in or 

 about May, 1903. The Rev. Hugh Parry, writing 

 on 30 October, 1906, says he has several times seen 

 small flocks of this bird in autumn. Mr. W. J. Horn 

 writes in 1907 : 'On 15 March, 1895, a male and 

 two females were killed near Market Harborough' (see 

 Zool. 1895, p. 233). Of the large race, with heavier 

 bill, known as the Parrot Crossbill, Loxia pityopsittacus, 

 Bechstein, Harley stated, on the authority of Mr. 

 Bickley, Melton Mowbray, that this form appeared to 

 have made a visit to Leicestershire in 1849. With 

 reference to this statement the late Mr. R. Widdowson 

 wrote to me : 'A pair of parrot crossbills, killed 

 close to Melton, are in the Bickley collection.' Un- 

 fortunately, however, with two' exceptions mentioned 

 hereafter, the specimens in the Bickley collection are 

 unlabelled, and in any event the ' Parrot Crossbill ' is 

 not entitled to specific rank. 



63. Corn-Bunting. Emberiza miliarla, Linn. 



Locally, Common Bunting, Bunting-Lark, Writ- 

 ing-Lark. 



Resident, but sparingly distributed. More often 

 seen perhaps in the winter months, especially near 

 farm buildings, consorting with sparrows and other 

 birds. The Rev. H. Parry obtained a nest and two 

 eggs at Tugby, on 2 June, 1888. Turner informed 

 me of a pied variety which he saw, caught in 

 this county about 1 8 80- 1. The late Dr. Macaulay 

 wrote, in 1892: 'Corn-buntings (very rare) seen 

 here on 30 April.' 



64. Yellow Hammer. 13 Emberiza citrinella, Linn. 



Locally, Yellow Bunting, Writing-Lark, ' Gold- 

 finch,' this latter name applied about Thring- 

 stone (Potter, op. cit. App. p. 67). 

 Resident and common. Mr. G. Frisby writes : 

 ' Largest flight I ever saw was on 1 2 February, 1 906.' 



65. Girl-Bunting. Emberiza cirlus, Linn. 



Rare. Has occurred but once, on the authority of 

 Harley, who writing between 1 840 and 1855 said 

 that he had met with it in company with the yellow 

 bunting, at Thurmaston. 



66. Ortolan-Bunting. Emberiza hortulana, Linn. 



A rare winter visitant. I insert this on the authority 

 of the late Mr. R. Widdowson, who knew of two 



18 More correctly Yellow ' Ammer,' ammer meaning Bunting. 



' killed with larks ; both young ' (presumably near 

 Melton Mowbray). 



67. Reed-Bunting. 14 Emberiza schoeniclus, Linn. 



Locally, Black-cap (Leicestershire Proverbs), Reed- 

 Sparrow. 



Resident and generally distributed ; much scarcer, 

 however, in winter than in spring, when its numbers 

 are increased by immigrants. I have found it breed- 

 ing in the Castle reed-bed, Leicester, as well as at Ayle- 

 stone, and have seen flights of immature birds at 

 Saddington, Bosworth, &c. This bird occasionally 

 breeds away from water. Mr. Davenport records a 

 nest of five eggs, built in a spinney at Ashlands, 

 24 May, 1883 ; and on 2 June, 1885, I had one 

 brought to me containing four eggs, from a roadside 

 hedge at Aylestone. Mr. W. J. Horn, writing in 

 1907, says : ' Five is invariably the number of eggs 

 in the first clutch. Nine out of every ten nests are 

 built on the ground, but I have found them at an 

 elevation of from 5 in. to 5 ft., the latter on 8 May, 

 1905, in a hedge by the side of the railway.' 



68. Snow-Bunting. Plectropbeitax nivalii (Linn.). 



Locally, Snow-Lark. 



A rare winter visitant. Mr. Babington wrote in 

 1842 (Potter, op. cit. App. p. 67) : 'A specimen 

 shot on the rocks near Whitwick four or five years 

 ago, in the transition from the white to the tawny 

 plumage.' Mr. J. S. Ellis tells me that a small party 

 of four or five were seen at Glenrield Lodge, probably 

 about 1854 or 1855. Turner states that a large flock 

 was seen by Mr. W. Bond at the Abbey Meadow 

 some time in 1870. The late Dr. Macaulay recorded 

 (Mid. Naf. 1882, p. 10) that a specimen was killed at 

 Laughton (probably about 1865), and was then in 

 the possession of the Rev. A. Matthews, and that four 

 others were shot at Burton Overy, during severe 

 weather, in February 1 88 1 . I saw a beautiful specimen 

 in the hands of a bird-stuffer, shot in Braunstone 

 Lane by Mr. T. H. Ashby, 7 Nov., 1885. 



Mr. Stephen H. Pilgrim, writing from Hinckley on 

 27 Nov., 1894, informed me of the capture of an 

 undoubted snow-bunting at Croft on 4 or 1 1 Nov. 

 the latter, he believed. He saw the bird alive in a 

 cage at W. Judd's, in Leicester, on 1 9 November. He 

 also informed me that Puffer reported having shot one, 

 about 1 88 1-2, in a field near the Wolvey Road, Hinck- 

 ley, about three-quarters of a mile from the town, 

 opposite Sketchley Spinneys. It was feeding with 

 yellow hammers on some fodder put down for cattle, 

 the snow being on the ground. Mr. W. J. Horn, 

 on 28 Nov., 1894, saw a snow-bunting with yellow 

 hammers near Market Bosworth. 



69. Starling. Sturnus vulgaris, Linn. 

 Locally, Shepster, Stare, Starnel. 

 Resident and common ; breeding even in Leicester. 

 It is subject to much variety. Mr. Davenport records 

 a white one seen by him at Skeffington in September, 

 1878. That varieties will mate with normally- 

 plumaged specimens was proved at Kibworth, from 

 whence the late Dr. Macaulay procured and forwarded 

 to me, on 4 June, 1887, a family party of male, 

 female, and three young, taken from a nest built under 



This bird is often called the ' black-headed bunting,' a 

 term properly applied to E. melanoccpbala, a very rare visitant 

 to Great Britain, and yellow-breasted with a black head. 



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