A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE 



78. Sky-lark. jflauJa arvensis, Linn. 



Resident and common, breeding in fields close to 

 Leicester. Packs in flocks of many hundreds in 

 winter, but in severe seasons appears to leave the 

 Midlands, probably withdrawing farther south. Mr. 

 Davenport states that it nests as early as the middle 

 of March. The museum donation-book records a 

 black variety from Belgrave, 31 March, 1860 (prob- 

 ably fed on hemp seed). Mr. G. Frisby writes that 

 on 24 June, 1906, he heard one singing sitting upon 

 a wild plum tree. 



79. Wood-lark. Aiauda arborea, Linn. 



I have no knowledge of this bird save that 

 furnished by Harley, who said that ' it appears to be a 

 permanent resident, but is seldom met with except 

 in the more retired woodlands. Around Newton, 

 Linford, Groby, and neighbouring districts the wood- 

 lark occurs, but even in such places it is not abundant.' 

 He further wrote : ' It nestles with us and builds on 

 the ground in corn-fields and rough places near the 

 sides of thick woods and plantations. Never congre- 

 gates in the winter months, like the sky-lark, but re- 

 mains solitary.' 



80. Swift. Cypsclus opus (Linn.). 



Locally, Develin, Jack Squealer. 



A summer migrant nearly the last to arrive and 

 the first to leave commonly distributed and breed- 

 ing. Harley recorded that in 1842 the swift appeared 

 on 6 May and left on 8 September, and that on 

 1 6 Aug., 1848, during cold and stormy weather, it 

 withdrew, leaving not a single individual of the 

 species where, only a few days before, they were 

 abundant ; but on 24, 25, and 26 August numbers 

 returned to his own parish and to a small village hard 

 by. During the cold spring of 1886 a correspondent 

 wrote to one of the Leicester papers, under date 

 1 5 May, stating that a man had been seen to pick up 

 a swift in the street one day that week, and the 

 writer had picked up another in a factory yard 

 himself the following day, both birds being in an ex- 

 hausted condition from cold and want of food. 



An immature male specimen was killed against the 

 electric tram wires on London Road, Leicester, and 

 was brought to the museum on 25 June, 1906, by 

 Mr. J. Matthews. 



8 1. White-bellied Swift or Alpine Swift. Cypselus 



melba (Linn.). 



This rare summer visitor has been quoted in 

 nearly every work since 1839 as having occurred in 

 Leicestershire, on what appears to me insufficient 

 evidence. Harley was responsible for its insertion 

 in the Leicester fauna, his exact words being : 

 ' The author in his remarks on the fauna of the county 

 of Leicestershire has this note affixed to a fly-leaf 

 attached to Jenyn's manual of British vertebrated 

 animals: "1839. September 23. Evening serene. 

 Wind southwest. Time half-past-five. Observed a 

 white-bellied swift cross my path, overhead near to 

 the Fosse Lane toll gate. The bird was gliding gently 

 through the soft air in a southerly direction and at a 

 height of 20 yards from the ground, thus enabling me 

 to identify it very correctly." ' 



82. Nightjar. Caprimulgus eunpaeus, Linn. 



Locally, Fern Owl, Goatsucker. 

 A summer migrant sparingly distributed and doubt- 



less breeding occasionally. Mr. Babington (Potter, 

 op. cit. App. 66) reported it from rocky heaths 

 about Sharpley, Kite Hill, &c. Harley recorded it 

 from Bardon, Gopsall, Grace Dieu, Martinshaw, and 

 Oakley, and stated that he had known examples shot so 

 late as October and November. The late Mr. Wid- 

 dowson wrote from Melton : ' Very few about here.' 

 Mr. Ingram writes : ' Found every summer in Bel- 

 voir Woods, but less numerous than formerly ; have 

 not found its eggs.' Mr. T. B. Ellis writes : ' Rare, 

 one or two generally at the " Brand." ' The museum 

 donation-book records one from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 

 shot by Mr. H. T. Everard on 2 Sept., 1874, 

 one from Birstall, 3 Sept., 1876, and one from Bel- 

 grave, 26 May, 1877, the last two shot by Mr. G. 

 Hall. One was killed by Harry Throsby with a 

 catapult, in an orchard at Aylestone, 31 May, 1887. 



The late Dr. Macaulay saw one in the flesh which 

 was shot at Laughton Hills about 1 876, and the Rev. A. 

 Matthews saw one hawking outside Gumley Wood in 

 the dusk on 10 May, 1882 ; he also stated that one 

 was shot at Quorn on I Oct., 1889, by Mr. Farn- 

 ham and was preserved. Mr. W. B. Farnham, writing 

 from Quorn on 31 Aug., 1890, says : 'During the 

 last three afternoons I have seen a pair of nightjars here 

 on the railings of the park.' 



Mr. W. J. Horn reports one near his house at 

 Market Harborough on 12 Aug., 1905. 



83. Wryneck. Ijnx torj ullla, Linn. 



Locally, Cuckoo's Mate, Snake-bird. 



A summer migrant, sparingly distributed and less 

 common than formerly. Harley wrote : ' It appears 

 nowhere more common than around Foxton. The 

 ash prevails there and, moreover, ant-hillocks abound to 

 a much greater extent than in any other district known 

 to us.' He further remarked that it nested in the 

 county, breeding in holes in orchard and forest trees. 

 According to the late Dr. Macaulay (MiJ.Nat. 1881, 

 p. 255), a pair built in 1 88 1 in a garden at Kibworth 

 and were not disturbed. Mr. F. Bouskell informs me 

 that he saw this bird several times at Knighton, in May 

 and June, 1889. The Rev. H. Parry writes that 

 he found a nest at Kibworth containing six eggs 

 which were hatched in due course, and the pair of birds 

 returned in 1882, but one of them was shot before 

 laying ; he further reports having found a nest with 

 seven eggs at Horninghold in June, 1890. Mr. W. 

 J. Horn writes in 1907 : 'In 1903 a pair nested 

 in Market Harborough. 21 April, 1905, I saw one 

 at Lubenham.' 



84. Green Woodpecker. Gecinus viridis (Linn.). 



Locally, Rain-bird, Rind-tabberer or tapper, 

 Wood-spite, Yaffle. 



Resident and generally distributed. I have pro- 

 cured specimens from Anstey, Bradgate, Cropston, Kib- 

 worth, &c., and a young male was shot so near to 

 Leicester as Wigston Fields, on 17 Oct., 1887, by 

 Mr. J. Waterfield. 



Mr. Davenport wrote that on 13 May, 1885, he 

 found a green woodpecker's nest at Keythorpe, in a small 

 hole in a tree not 3 ft. from the ground. On enlarging 

 it he found nothing in it, but passing by five days later 

 to his amazement the bird flew out again ; this time 

 there were five eggs, on 2 2 May four more were laid, 

 on the 27th two, and on 3 June three, making a total 

 of fourteen. Writing again on 8 May, 1886, he says 



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