BIRDS 



that this bird laid one more egg after 3 June. Accord- 

 ing to Harley, a cream-coloured specimen, now or 

 formerly in the Leverian Museum, was shot at Belvoir 

 Chase, or rather Croxton Park, the seat of the Duke of 

 Rutland (Latham, General Synopsis (Suppl. i), 110). 

 Mr. J. T. Hincks shot a female specimen at Brunt- 

 ingthorpe, I Jan., 1891. Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 

 1907 : 'Occasionally in the Park, Market Har- 

 borough. Last year (1906) it nested near my house, 

 and I frequently see it in my orchard." 



85. Great Spotted Woodpecker. Dendrocopus major 



(Linn.). 

 Locally, French Magpie. 



Resident, but not common. Mr. Babington (Potter, 

 op. cit. App. 68) stated that it ' is found in' old 

 woods all round the Forest, but it is not very common.' 

 Harley remarked that in his day the species was 

 seldom seen, except in the vicinity of the parks of 

 Beaumanor, Bosworth, Donington, Garendon, and 

 Gopsall. 



Mr. H. S. Davenport records one in Staunton Wood 

 on 30 March, 1889, and the late Dr. Macaulay in- 

 formed me that on 28 April, 1886, he saw at Elking- 

 ton's a male specimen which had been shot at Stanton. 



Mr. G. Frisby writes on 12 April, 1906, that he 

 watched a pair preparing a nesting-hole. 



Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 1 907 : ' On 4 May, 

 1896, I heard and saw one in the Burbage Woods, 

 near Hinckley, and on I April, 1905, 1 saw and heard 

 one (calling as it flew) at Saddington Reservoir. I 

 heard and saw another on 21 April, 1905, at Luben- 

 ham. This bird was at work on a hard dead tree and 

 the blows sounded like pistol shots. It has nested in 

 this district.' 



The Rev. Hugh Parry has found its nest and eggs 

 within the last few years in the vicinity of Tugby. 



86. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Dendrocopus minor 

 (Linn.). 



Resident, but sparingly distributed ; probably rarer 

 than the preceding species. Mentioned by Mr. Bab- 

 ington (Potter, op. cit. App. 68) as having occurred 

 near Groby. Harley observed that near Leicester it 

 affected the elms standing on the grounds at Dannett's 

 Hall and Westcotes, and near Loughborough was 

 known to haunt the trees at Burleigh Fields ; it was 

 also met with at Beaumanor, Croxton, Donington. 

 Garendon, Gopsall, and Market Bosworth. He 

 remarked that this bird descends trees tail foremost in 

 a spiral manner, performing this reversed motion 

 quickly and easily, without jerks. 



The Rev. Hugh Parry has found its nest and eggs 

 within the last few years near Tugby. 



The late Dr. Macaulay reported one taken at East 

 Langton in October, 1889, by Mr. Oliver. He also 

 wrote that a female specimen was shot at Kibworth on 

 25 Feb., 1890, by Mr. Peberdy. Mr. F. Bouskell 

 saw one on an ash tree at Knighton, on 13 Oct., 1889. 



Mr. W. J. Horn writing in 1907 mentions the fol- 

 lowing : On 29 April, 1894, a female near Huncote 

 Mill ; another on 10 March, 1894, near Burbage 

 Wood ; on 1 6 Feb., 1896, two males at Burbage 

 Woods ; and on 7 April, 1896, a male and two females 

 at the same place. He saw a pair in the spring ot 

 1896 in Market Bosworth Park, which nested in 

 * King Dick's Clump.' 



Mr. Horn also records the following : One, 10 

 July, 1896,3! Bosworth Park ; one, 1 6 Feb., 1898, at 



Market Harborough ; one, 5 May, 1 900, at Luben- 

 ham ; and three pairs nesting in Market Harborough 

 in 1905. 



Mr. Otto Murray-Dixon shot one at Swithland 

 26 Feb., 1904, and Mr. E. Frisby reports seeing a 

 pair at the 'bird-table' in Beaumanor Park from 

 November, 1904, to March, 1905, and states that a 

 nesting-hole of this bird was completed 8 April, 1906. 



87. Kingfisher. Akedo ispida, Linn. 



Resident, but sparingly distributed. Harley once 

 caught one in a severe winter almost unable to fly, 

 from the fact that ' its tiny red feet were encased with 

 ice, some pieces of which hung like ear-drops to its 

 claws.' Mr. Ingram wrote : ' Occasionally seen near 

 the little River Devon and by the Lake. Two birds 

 dashed against the Rectory window at Bottesford and 

 were captured, and afterwards liberated.' Elking- 

 ton reported several from the vicinity of Leicester 

 during the winter of 1884-5. I have repeatedly 

 observed specimens on the brook at Knighton and on 

 the Soar at Aylestone, near which a nest, with nine 

 eggs, was found 22 May, 1885. It has, I believe, bred 

 at Blaby, Bosworth, Bradgate, Desford, Stapleford 

 Park, &c. 



The Rev. Father Sullen, writing from Ratcliffe in 

 January, 1891, says: 'In the first week of last April 

 I discovered a nest (consisting entirely of small fish 

 bones and on which were deposited seven eggs) at the 

 far end of an old rat hole in a bank by the river. The 

 narrow hole which led to the nest was lined with a 

 mixture of fish bones and broken shells, clay and the 

 excrements of the bird. This composition was phos- 

 phorescent and emitted a most unpleasant smell.' 



Mr. G. Frisby says this bird is a frequent visitor to 

 the brook in the centre of the village of Quorn, and 

 on 7 April, 1906, he saw one sitting on its eggs. 

 Mr. W. J. Horn, writing in 1907, reports it as 

 occasionally to be seen flying along the Welland at 

 Market Harborough, and mentions that two or three 

 pairs breed in that neighbourhood. 



88. Hoopoe. Upupa cfofs, Linn. 



A rare spring and autumn visitant. The first notice 

 I can find of this bird is contained in a letter from 

 Mr. Sebastian Evans, of South Kensington, to the 

 late Rev. Churchill Babington, who handed it to 

 me. He wrote : ' The hoopoe which was in the 

 possession of T. Cope, esq., at Osbaston Hall, was shot 

 in 1828, at I think Nailstone, which comes just within 

 your district.' Harley wrote : ' This species has 

 occurred in the county in immature plumage, a fine 

 example having been shot in the lordship of Stapleton 

 on 15 September, 1851.' This was presented by him 

 to the museum, where it is still preserved (1907). 

 He further recorded : ' It is said to have occurred 

 also at Bradgate Park and near Lutterworth.' The 

 museum donation-book records the presentation on 

 26 June, 1867, by Mr. C. Burdett, of another 

 example 'shot in the county of Leicester.' I saw at 

 Elkington's a very fine one, apparently a male, of a deep 

 buff-pink colour and pure white and black, resembling 

 the most richly-coloured South European specimens. 

 It had only been that day set up and was shot at Great 

 Peatling on n May, 1883. Mr. W. A. Vice, M.B., 

 has told me since then that another was in its company. 

 Mr. W. T. Tucker, writing on 23 Oct., 1905, 

 says : ' We have had presented to our museum a 

 good specimen of the hoopoe, which was shot some 



133 



