A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE 



[Glossy Ibis. Plegadis falcinellus (Linn.). 

 Locally, Black Curlew. 



This rare bird is now but an accidental visitant to 

 Britain, but was formerly common enough to be men- 

 tioned in the old doggerel distich : 



' A Curlew, be she white or be she black, 

 She carries twelvepence on her back.' 



The ' Bickley collection ' in the museum contains 

 a fine specimen of this bird, for which the late Mr. 

 Widdowson told me } 31. was paid by Mr. Bickley 

 to the fortunate sportsman who brought it to him. 

 The late Dr. Macaulay stated (Mid. Nat. 1882, p. 77), 

 in reference to this specimen : ' I have been recently 

 informed by the donor's brother that it was killed on 

 the border of the county and within it.' This, how- 

 ever, is an error, and Leicestershire cannot claim this 

 rara avis, for on the back of the case it is thus 

 labelled : 'This rare and valuable specimen was 

 shot near the Derby Railway Station in February, 

 1842, H. B.' Also, 'Killed near Derby, February, 

 1842.'] 



i 20. Spoonbill. Plataka leucorodia, Linn. 



This is a new record for the county, founded upon 

 a mounted specimen purchased for the museum and 

 said by the taxidermist to have been shot by Gervasse 

 Reckless at Cropston Reservoir on 6 July, 1892. 



121. Grey Lag Goose. Anser cinereus, Meyer. 

 Locally, Wild Goose. 



An uncommon winter visitant. According to 

 Harley, this species was shot in the county during the 

 hard frost of the winter of 1842, and the late 

 Dr. Macaulay (Mid. Nat. 1883, p. 86) stated that one 

 was shot at Shangton on 10 Dec., 1882. 



122. White-fronted Goose. Anstr albifrons (Scopoli). 



An uncommon winter visitant. I have seen a fine 

 specimen which was shot at Tur Langton on 1 8 Dec. 

 1879, by Mr. Owen West (Mid. Nat. 1882, p. 2). 

 The late Dr. Macaulay stated that the specimen shot 

 by Mr. O. West was one of three, and that Mr. J. 

 Brown shot another and they ate it. Mr. G. Frisby 

 writes on 28 Dec., 1906 : 'Half a dozen of these 

 were at some little distance from the Canada geese, 

 but did not mix with them.' 



123. Bean-Goose. Anser segetum (J. F. Gmelin). 



An uncommon winter visitant. Harley observed : 

 ' The narrow-billed grey goose occasionally visits us, 

 and appeared in the county during the month of 

 October, 1842, making its transit by large flocks in a 

 north-westerly direction.' Mr. Davenport records a 

 specimen which was shot at Noseley by Mr. A. M. 

 Hazlerigg in December, 1880. The late Dr. Macaulay 

 obtained a specimen (immature), shot at Smeeton, 1 1 

 Dec. 1890, by Mr. John Peberdy. The Report of the 

 Rugby School Nat. Hist. Soc. (1884) contains the 

 following note by E.E.A. : ' Wild goose, probably 

 Anser segetum : I saw a flock of about fifteen or twenty 

 in flight near North Kilworth, 22 January, 1885 ; a 

 fanner near there told me that he had seen six separate 

 flocks pass over his house one morning a short time 

 before.' 



1 24. Bernacle Goose. Bernicla leucopsis (Bechstein) 

 Locally, Barnacle. 



A very rare straggler from the coast. This, a new 

 record for the county, rests on one I saw in the hands 

 of a taxidermist, and which Mr. W. Whitaker tells me 

 was shot at Thornton Reservoir during the first week 

 of April, 1891. 



125. Brent Goose. Bernicla brenta (Pallas). 

 Locally, Black Goose. 



An uncommon winter visitant, the occurrence of 

 this species inland at a distance from the sea being 

 very unusual. Harley, however, stated that several 

 were shot at Kirkby Mallory on 3 1 Dec., 1 844. The 

 museum donation-book records one shot at Syston 

 and presented by the Literary and Philosophical 

 Society, 28 Jan., 1854. 



[Egyptian Goose. Cbenalopex aegyptiacus (Linn.). 



This species is so often kept in a state of semi- 

 domestication on private waters and so often contrives 

 to effect its escape, that it is very doubtful if any of 

 the specimens which are from time to time shot in a 

 state of freedom are really wild birds. Nevertheless, 

 although not so common as the Canada goose, it may 

 in time, like that, become semi-feral, or feral. Harley 

 stated that one was shot close to Leicester, 4 March, 

 1843. It bore no sign of captivity, and had three 

 companions, which went away in a southerly direction. 

 This is probably the specimen in the museum, re- 

 corded in the donation book as 'shot on the river 

 Soar, 1843,' by Mr. H. S. Hamel. Mr. W. J. 

 Horn records that five of these birds visited the 

 'Ballast Hole' at Welham, on 27 Aug., 1898 ; one 

 was shot by Mr. George Thwaites, of Market Har- 

 borough, and is now in his possession.] 



[Canada Goose. Bernicla canadensis (Linn.). 



An introduced species often found at large, con- 

 gregating in large bodies especially in winter, and 

 flying so far afield as to give rise to the conviction 

 that, if not now, it will soon become feral. Mr. 

 Wilfrid Moss, of Loughborough, reported three 

 Canada geese shot on the Soar in April, 1891, and at 

 first supposed to be either brent or bernacle geese. 

 The late Dr. Macaulay informed me that there 

 were three Canada geese on Saddington Reservoir on 

 29 March, 1892. Both Mr. Otto Murray-Dixon and 

 Mr. Frisby report it from Swithland Reservoir ; the 

 latter gives the following note : ' At a fishpond near 

 Woodhouse a pair of Canada geese rear their young 

 every year, returning in the breeding season. No 

 sooner, however, have they settled in their old quarters, 

 their young accompanying them, than there arises a 

 great commotion, and the parent birds are seen driving 

 off their young with great noise, excitement, and per- 

 sistency, which ends in the young birds having to 

 depart and the old ones settling down once more to 

 their all-important duties.' On 1 8 Sept., 1906, he 

 saw thirty fly over Quorn in one flock, and on 28 

 Dec., 1 906, over a dozen were on Swithland Reservoir. 

 Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 1907 : 'On 7 May, 1895, 

 a bird of this species flew over my head when I was 

 in the Burbage Woods.] 



126. Whooper Swan. Cygnus musicus, Bechstein. 

 Locally, Elk, Whistling Swan, Wild Swan. 



An uncommon winter visitant. Mr. Babington 

 (Potter, op. cit. App. p. 69) recorded this swan as 



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