BIRDS 



having been seen at Bardon by Mr. Grundy ; one 

 vras killed near Wanlip Hall and was added by the 

 Dowager Lady Palmer, to Mr. Gisborne's extensive 

 collection at Yoxall Lodge, and another was killed at 

 Groby. Harley wrote : ' It has occurred on the Soar 

 at Loughborough and also at Groby Pool, as I learn 

 from Mr. Chaplin.' Mr. W. Brookes, of Croft, reports 

 that, in the winter of 1 870-1, ten wild swans came on 

 to the flooded meadow below Narborough, where one 

 or two of them were shot. 



127. Bewick's Swan. Cygnus bewuki, Yarrell. 



The addition of this rarity to the county fauna 

 rests on the authority of Mr. Otto Murray-Dixon, 

 who told me and recorded in the Field that thirty 

 arrived on Swithland Reservoir 27 Feb., 1904,- and 

 departed, flying N.E., 7 March, 1904. None was 

 shot, but Mr. Murray Dixon observed them closely 

 several times through powerful field glasses and says 

 he could not have been mistaken. They appeared 

 again in 19056, and on 28 Dec., 1906, Mr. G. 

 Frisby observed them and writes : ' I was sure of six, 

 but I believe eight of these birds were on the Reser- 

 voir on this date, not far from the mute swans (about 

 80 or 100 yds.). It is three years since this swan was 

 here. To identify the last two mentioned, I had to 

 tramp through 8 to 10 in. of snow and deep drifts, 

 but I was repaid.' 



128. Mute Swan. Cygntu olor (J. F. Gmelin). 

 Locally, Tame Swan. 



An introduced species and now domesticated. It 

 breeds at the Abbey Park, Leicester, Thornton Reser- 

 voir, and other places in the county. As this swan is 

 truly feral in some parts of northern Europe, it may 

 be that some of those reported as being shot with 

 whoopers &c., in hard winters, are not escaped tame 

 birds as usually supposed. 



129. Common Sheldrake. Tadorna cornuta (S. G. 



Gmelin). 



Locally, Bar-Gander, Burrow-Duck, Shield-Duck, 

 Shell-Duck. 



Of accidental occurrence. The late Dr. Macaulay 

 recorded (Mid. Nat. 1882, p. 78) : 'Three were shot 

 at Barkby in 1880, and I saw one of them, a male, 

 in the possession of a bird-stufter named Donnell.' 

 The date, however, should be February, 1 88 1, when I 

 saw the bird in question, which was a young male. 



Mr. A. Dalby, of Castle Donington, reports seeing 

 a pair in the spring of 1892, also in January, 1893, 

 and on 19 Jan., 1895. Mr. O. Murray-Dixon saw 

 four on Swithland Reservoir, some time in June, 

 1903. 



Mr. W. J. Horn saw a pair on 28 Feb., 1900, 

 on the flooded waters of the Welland, on the Leices- 

 tershire side, below Rockingham. 



130. Mallard or Wild Duck. Anas boscas, Linn. 



Resident and generally distributed. I shot one (a 

 female) within two fields of the tram line, at Ayle- 

 stone, 23 Jan., 1886. Harley records that in his 

 youth he saw a nest built in the crown of a pollard 

 willow, in a small marshy meadow by the brook 

 which falls into the Soar near Loughborough. After 

 the young were hatched, the female was observed to 

 induce them to leave the tree by emitting a shrill cry, 



and reaching the ground in safety the little ones were 

 then led away by the mother to the adjacent brook. 



Mr. T. Groves reported that he saw a duck sitting on 

 a clutch of eleven eggs deposited in an oak tree, at a 

 height of 10 ft. from the ground, in Bradgate Park in 



1 88 1. In the spring of 1887 a female bird (appar- 

 ently, as I am informed, of this speJes) joined some 

 tame ' Aylesburys ' belonging to Mr. Kellett, on the 

 Soar which flows past his house on the Aylestone 

 Road, and after some time became sufficiently tame 

 to go with them into the fowl-house each night. It 

 never, however, availed itself of the ladder up which 

 the other ducks waddled from the water, but always 

 flew from the water into the garden. It went away 

 several times, but ultimately made a nest in a willow- 

 tree on the river, close to the main tram-road, and 

 laid eggs ; but as unfortunately both bird and eggs 

 disappeared one night it was thought to have been 

 killed or stolen. The wild duck is seldom absent 

 from the Belvoir lake or reservoir, where it breeds 

 regularly, as it does also at Rolleston and Saddington. 

 Harley wrote : ' I have also to record the capture of 

 an exceedingly beautiful mallard, met with at Ulles- 

 thorpe in this county in a wild state, which bore all 

 the marks of hybridity,' but he did not describe its 

 appearance. From what he had previously written, 

 however, I should assume he intended to convey the 

 idea that it was a hybrid between the wild duck and 

 the muscovy duck. 



131. Gadwall. Anas strepera, Linn. 



This rare straggler, a new record for the county, 

 fell to the gun of the late Major Jary, J.P., F.Z.S., of 

 Bitteswell Hall, Lutterworth, who informed me that he 

 had shot it, a female, at that place on 25 Oct., 1890, 

 and had forwarded it to the Rev. H. T. Frere, of 

 Burston, Norfolk, who recorded it in the Zool. of Dec. 

 1890, p. 464. It is now in the museum. 



132. Shoveler. Spatula clyfeata (Linn.). 



A rare winter visitant. Mr. Babington (Potter, 

 op. cit. App. p. 69) wrote : ' Killed near Charnwood 

 Heath. In the collection at Yoxall Lodge.' Harley 

 remarked that in his day, the shoveler occurred on 

 most of our large pools and waters, as for example 

 Groby and Barratt, usually during severe weather ; 

 and further added : ' Shot on Groby Pool by Chaplin.' 

 Col. Palmer, of Withcote Hall, possesses a mounted 

 specimen, shot on the pool there in the winter of 

 1860. The late Dr. Macau'ay recorded (Mid. Nat. 



1882, p. 79) that the 'Rev. A. Matthews, some 

 years since, got two at one shot, at Gumley.' The 

 late Mr. Widdowson's diary records one killed at 

 Syston, 29 Sept., 1868. Mr. W. Whitaker, of Wis- 

 tow Grange, killed one on Thornton Reservoir, in 

 August, 1878. Mr. W. A. Vice showed me a fine 

 female specimen shot on the mill-stream, Blaby, about 

 1879. This duck has been observed at Swithland 

 Reservoir by Mr. O. Murray-Dixon, who saw five (two 

 drakes and three ducks) on I Feb., 1904 ; two drakes 

 and several ducks, 24 Dec., 1905 ; and one duck on 

 25 Dec., 1905. Mr. G. Frisby also saw some, 

 10 Dec., 1906, at the same place. Mr. W. J. Horn 

 observed one, a male, on 20 April, 1903, on Sad- 

 dington Reservoir. 



133. Pintail. Dajila acuta (Linn.). 



An uncommon winter visitant. Harley recorded 

 that Chaplin shot a fine pair in female plumage, on the 



141 



