BIRDS 



adult female peregrine, shot by Mr. Owen West at 

 Tur Langton about five years previously. 



The late Mr. Ingram sent me an immature female 

 on 19 Dec., 1889, captured in Birkstone Wood, 

 about which he gave me the following interesting 

 particulars : ' I have seen Mr. Sharp to-day and 

 learnt the following particulars concerning the hawk 

 and its capture. It was first seen by one of the 

 under-keepers at Belvoir near Birkstone Wood, pur- 

 suing a heron ; from the description the man gives it 

 must have been a fine sight ; the heron took higher 

 and higher flights, the swoops of the hawk causing it 

 to scream fearfully ; the end of the fray was not seen, 

 as a portion of the wood intercepted the view. The 

 day following this the hawk struck a wood-pigeon ; 

 this being observed by the keeper, he set a trap baited 

 with the bird and caught the hawk by one of its talons.' 



Mr. W. Whitaker informed me of a specimen in 

 his possession which was shot at Newbold Verdon on 

 30 Oct., 1891. Mr. W. J. Horn, writing on 15 Oct., 

 1897, stated that a large hawk (? peregrine) had 

 for the past three days taken up its quarters on 

 St. Martin's Church, Leicester, and had already 

 ' done to death eight pigeons.' In the ' Bickley col- 

 lection,' in the museum, is a fine female specimen 

 which was shot at Melton Mowbray in 1 849. 



107. Hobby. Falco subbuteo, Linn. 



An uncommon summer visitant, but has bred in 

 the county. According to Harley, it usually breeds 

 in the deserted nest of a carrion-crow or magpie, which 

 it repairs. In the summer of 1840 a pair of hobbys 

 took possession of the deserted nest of a magpie on a 

 large elm standing in a hedgerow at Houghton. 

 Chaplin of Groby met with this species in Martin- 

 shaw Wood in September, 1841. Mr. Babington 

 (Potter, op. cit. App. p. 65) recorded one specimen as 

 having occurred near Thringstone. Sir George Beau- 

 mont reported one which was killed at Coleorton in 

 1874. The late Dr. Macaulay recorded its occurrence 

 at Gumley Wood on several occasions on the authority 

 of the Rev. A. Matthews. He further reported hav- 

 ing seen a male hobby, shot at Smeeton in January, 

 1888, by Mr. John Peberdy. Mr. Davenport writes : 

 ' A pair were shot by the keeper at Stockerston Wood 

 in the summer of 1881. One was chasing the other 

 and both were killed by one discharge and hung on a 

 tree with other vermin.' The late Mr. Widdowson 

 reported three during 1880, and Elkington had 

 received several before his death, reporting the last 

 one, a male, caught by nets in 1882. Some years 

 ago a male, killed at Hinckley, and another at Bosworth 

 Park were purchased for the museum. I saw in 1888 

 a specimen in the collection of Mr. H. C. Woodcock 

 of Rearsby, which he informed me was shot at 

 Brentingby many years ago. 



1 08. Merlin. Falco ttesalon, Tunstall. 



Locally, Blue Hawk, Pigeon-Hawk, Stone-Falcon. 

 An uncommon winter visitant, not remaining to 

 breed. According to Mr. Babington (Potter, op. cit. 

 App. p. 65) it has occurred near Shepshed, and Harley 

 stated that it comes to our woodlands in autumn, 

 remaining during the winter months only. I saw in 

 the possession of Mr. H. C. Woodcock an adult male 

 specimen which he shot on a tree in his garden at 

 Rearsby, about 1868. In Zool. for May, 1 868, p. 1 2 1 2, 

 is the following note : ' A specimen in immature 



I 37 



plumage was killed a few days since by dashing at the 

 windows of a house in Leicester. An adult bird 

 was shot on the farm of Messrs. Spencer in this 

 county.' Mr. J. B. Ellis presented to the museum 

 on 30 Jan., 1882, an adult female merlin in the flesh, 

 shot at Bardon Hill, and has informed me of two 

 others since then, one of which was shot. Mr. Ingram 

 wrote : ' Taken occasionally at Belvoir.' The late 

 Mr. Widdowson reported several during the last few 

 years of his life. I saw at Elkington's a female shot 

 at Dunton Bassett on 1 1 Dec., 1886. 



Mr. Stephen H. Pilgrim informed me that some 

 time in 1892 Mr. Thomas Powers shot one at 

 Barwell. 



109. Red-footed Falcon. Falco vespertinus, Linn. 



The Leicester Museum donation-book records the 

 presentation, by the Leicester Literary and Philo- 

 sophical Society, on 22 Feb., 1866, of an 'orange- 

 legged hobby, shot near the Machine-house, Bel- 

 grave Road, I July, 1866,' with a note in the 

 margin, ' first recorded specimen in this county,' 

 and in the Field of 10 March, 1866, is the fol- 

 lowing note : ' I saw a few days ago a very fine 

 specimen of the red-footed falcon, a young male, killed 

 two or three miles from Leicester about two months 

 ago. It is now in the museum of that town. The 

 curator bought it for a trifle from the person who had 

 it in the flesh. It was shot by a young man who lives 

 at Belgrave, a suburb of Leicester ROBERT WIDDOW- 

 SON (Melton Mowbray).' The identical specimen is 

 still in the museum, and it was shot by Thomas 

 Adcock. I am pleased to verify this note, about which 

 I now have little doubt, and therefore cancel my 

 previous remarks (see Zool. 1886, p. 166). 



110. Kestrel. FaL'o tinnunculus, Linn. 



Locally, Stannel (i.e. ? Stand-Gale), Windhover. 



Resident and generally distributed. Harley stated 

 that he had seen it attack the starling and bear off the 

 black thrush and its congener, but that it appeared to 

 feed much on the smaller kinds of mammals and 

 various coleoptera, especially the cockchafer. The 

 late Dr. Macaulay considered that since the passing of 

 the Wild Birds Protection Act this species had become 

 commoner, which tallies with my own observation. 

 In the stomachs of kestrels I have dissected I have 

 never found anything but remains of beetles and mice. 

 Mr. G. H. Storer informs me that whilst snipe-shoot- 

 ing with some friends at Arnesby in December, 1882, 

 a lark was seen flying towards them, hotly pursued by 

 a kestrel. The bird flew into a barn which they were 

 entering and dropped trembling with fright into 

 the straw at the feet of one of the party, just as 

 its swift pursuer reached the door. Seeing the group, 

 the kestrel veered off, and a few seconds later the lark 

 recovered and left also. (Tram. Leic. Lit. and Phil. Soc., 

 Jan., 1889, p. 26.) This species builds quite close to 

 Leicester, at Knighton, where I procured, on 3 July, 

 1883,3 nest of five young. Mr. Davenport writes : 

 ' My experience of kestrels is that they are more sen- 

 sitive than the sparrow-hawk, forsaking their nest if 

 tampered with. If I find a nest with three eggs and 

 take one only, it is almost a certainty the bird will not 

 only forsake, but will cast away the remaining eggs as 

 well. I found a white egg at Billesdon Coplow in 

 May, 1882." This bird builds early in some seasons, 

 and Mr. Davenport records that in 1885 he took a 



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