BIRDS 



19 June, 1884. The late Mr. Widdowson wrote : 

 ' Plentiful some years ago. Several shot at Little 

 Dalby.' I saw a mounted specimen (male) in 1888, 

 in the possession of Mr. H. C. Woodcock, who in- 

 formed me that it was shot on the Wreak at Syston, 

 many years ago, by his keeper. A female in the flesh 

 was presented to the museum by Mr. John Burgess, 

 who shot it at Saddington Reservoir, on 31 Oct., 

 1887. Mr. G. H. Storer saw a small flock on 

 21 May, 1888, at Cropston Reservoir. In 1904 it 

 appeared in numbers on Swithland Reservoir, where 

 on I February Mr. O. Murray-Dixon estimated 

 there were fifty pairs to be seen, and on 24 Dec., 

 1 906, Mr. G. Frisby reported that ' a large flock 

 remained during the week.' Mr. W. J. Horn writes 

 in 1907 : ' I am inclined to think that a few pairs 

 remain to breed ; I saw a pair on Blatherwyck Lake 

 (Northants) on 25 May, 1905.' 



139. Scaup-Duck. Fuligula mania (Linn.). 



A winter visitant, rarer than the last-named. One 

 was shot at Saddington Reservoir in 1874 by the late 

 Dr. Macaulay (Mid. Nat. 1882, p. 79). I saw a 

 mounted specimen (male) in 1888 in the collection of 

 Mr. H. C. Woodcock, which was shot on the Wreak, 

 at Rearsby, many years ago by his keeper. Dr. 

 Macaulay had a iemale specimen, shot at Thornton 

 Reservoir, 4 Dec., 1890, and further reported a male 

 specimen shot at Saddington Reservoir by Mr. L. C. 

 Ha ward on 24 Nov., 1891. 



Mr. A. Dalby, of Castle Donington, shot a 

 female, 6 Jan., 1894, which he had preserved, and 

 he saw a pair killed 26 Dec., 1894. 



Mr. O. Murray-Dixon shot one (a drake) on 

 Swithland Reservoir on 6 Oct., 1903, and Mr. G. 

 Frisby observed it there 10 Dec., 1906. 



140. Goldeneye. Clangula glaucion (Linn.). 



An uncommon winter visitant. Mr. Babington 

 (Potter, op. cit. App.) wrote : ' Killed at Groby by 

 the keeper of the Earl of Stamford and also in 

 Loughborough Meadows.' Harley recorded that 

 during the severe winter of 1845 it appeared in the 

 county in fairly large numbers, several examples being 

 obtained at Groby Pool. He was informed that it 

 also occurred rather numerously in many other dis- 

 tricts, and stated that it was found at Groby Pool, 

 Bosworth, Saddington, and elsewhere during the 

 winter months. I have seen a fine female specimen 

 in the possession of T. W. Tebbs, of the Union Inn, 

 Blaby, shot by him at the ' Big Brook,' Blaby, in the 

 winter of 1880. John Ryder sent to the museum a 

 beautiful adult male specimen, shot on the lake at 

 Belvoir, 28 Oct., 1885. Mr. Thomas Woodcock 

 reported having seen a goldeneye on the Wreak in 

 the winter of 1889-90. The late Dr. Macaulay 

 informed me that the Rev. A. Matthews had a 

 specimen which he shot out of three on Gumley Hall 

 Pond (N.D.). Mr. A. Dalby, of Castle Donington, 

 reported a female, shot in Feb., 1895, which is pre- 

 served and in his possession. Mr. G. Frisby saw one 

 on Swithland Reservoir, 1 6 Oct., 1906. Mr. W. J. 

 Horn writes in 1907 : 'One was shot at Ulverscroft 

 Priory in January, 1868, and reported in the Zoo/, of 

 that year (p. 121 2) by Mr. Theodore Walker.' 



[Harlequin Duck. Cosmonetta histrionica (Linn.). 



Of this very rare straggler to the British Isles, 

 Harley wrote: '1845. The appearance of this 



rare bird in the county of Leicester I record with 

 much satisfaction, and I am enabled to do so on the 

 authority of Mr. Chaplin, 15 of Groby, who shot a 

 pair of harlequin ducks on the pool during the in- 

 clement season of the early months of the year which 

 we have so recently experienced. These two rare 

 visitors were associated with scoters, tufted ducks, 

 teals, and widgeons, and it must be observed that the 

 manifest difference in the plumage of the birds, so 

 remarkably diverse from their companions, led to their 

 capture as I have already intimated.' 1 have ere this 

 heard several ducks styled ' Harlequin,' the last time 

 the term being applied to the by-no-means-common 

 long-tailed duck.] 



141. Common Scoter. Oedemia nlgra (Linn.). 

 Locally, Black Duck. 



A not uncommon winter visitant. Harley wrote : 

 ' Chaplin has met with the species on Groby Pool.' 

 The late Mr. Widdowson wrote : ' I shot one at 

 Melton, now in the " Bickley collection." ' It has 

 also occurred more than once at Bosworth Park, as I 

 am informed by Henry Long, the keeper. Mr. J. 

 Whitaker possesses two adult males, shot out of a 

 flock at Thornton Reservoir, 18 Sept., 1879, by the 

 late Dr. John Wright, of Markfield (Zoo/. 1879, 

 p. 459). 



The late Dr. Macaulay stated (MM. Nat. 1882, 

 p. 79) : ' Not unfrequently driven in by the easterly 

 gales.' During August and September, 1881, three 

 were obtained at Saddington, one of which (a male) 

 he shot on 3 September out of a flock of twenty and 

 presented to the museum. One in the museum, is said 

 to have been shot near the Abbey Meadow, Lei- 

 cester, on 9 Feb., 1882. Mr. G. Frisby saw two on 

 Swithland Reservoir, 1 6 Oct., 1906. 



142. Velvet Scoter. Oedemia fusca (Linn.). 



The only occurrence in the county, and a new one, 

 is that recorded by the late Rev. A. Matthews, of 

 Gumley, who informed me that on either 1 1 or 12 

 Nov., 1889, one was shot on Saddington Reservoir 

 by Mr. John Burgess, and was in the hands of Turner, 

 the rural postman, ' who had skinned it remarkably 

 well.' The specimen is now in the museum. See 

 also Zoo/. 1889, p. 455. 



143. Goosander. Mergus merganser, Linn. 



A rare winter visitant. Mr. Babington (Potter, op. 

 cit. App. 70) noticed one shot near Langley Priory 

 in the possession of Mr. R. Cheslyn, and the late 

 Dr. Macaulay recorded (Mid. Nat. 1882, p. 79) that 

 a female specimen was killed on the Smeeton Canal 

 in 1862, by Mr. A. Hildebrand. Later he stated 

 that it was in the possession of the Rev. A. Matthews, 

 and was a young male : further that another specimen 

 in the same collection was shot on Saddington 

 Reservoir. 



The museum contains a fine male in adult plumage, 

 shot near Blaby, 17 Dec. 1875. 



Mr. A. Dalby of Castle Donington shot a female 

 7 Jan. 1894, which was preserved and in his posses- 

 sion. He also saw a pair 1 1 Jan., 1895. 



15 Chaplin was the keeper at Groby then, and appears to 

 have been a man of discernment ; still, to those who know 

 how few keepers there are who properly discriminate between 

 closely-allied forms, it is probable that he mistook the species, 

 only three specimens said to have been killed in Britain being 

 known (see Mr. Howard Saunders, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Proc. Zool. 

 Soc. (1887) 319-20). 



'43 



