A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE 



Dr. Macaulay remarked upon the increasing rarity 

 of the 'Jack,' but in the winter of 1885-6, it 

 was unusually abundant, so close to Leicester as 

 Knighton and Rowley Fields, where I shot and 

 procured several examples. On 13 April, 1888, I 

 saw a small snipe get up quite silently from the old 

 river at Aylestone and believe it to have been a 

 'Jack,' and if so, it would be a late date for this bird 

 to be with us. A male specimen was killed by flying 

 against the telegraph wires at Cosby and presented in 

 the flesh to the museum on 3 April, 1906, by Mr. 

 Joseph Johnson. Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 1907 : 

 ' A few are nearly always to be found in the Welland 

 Valley in winter, where I have occasionally shot 

 them.' 



175. Dunlin. Tringa alpina, Linn. 



Locally, Plover's Page, Purre, Sea-Snipe, Stint. 

 An uncommon autumn and winter visitant from 

 the coast. Harley recorded it for Bosworth and 

 Loughborough, and also noted several examples killed 

 near the disused reservoir of Charnwood Forest. 

 Mr. Sebastian Evans, writing to the late Rev. C. 

 Babington, who kindly furnished me with the note, 

 quoted from his brother, the late Rev. Arthur Evans's 

 miscellaneous bird notes : ' Dunlin shot at Gopsall, 

 Jan., 184.7.' The late Dr. Macaulay (Mid. Nat. 

 1882, p. 78) said that it occasionally occurred at 

 Saddington Reservoir, and he had noticed a flock of 

 fourteen there during the winter of 1881. I saw 

 four specimens in the possession of Mr. S. Bevans, 

 shot by him in the Abbey Meadow, about 1878-9 ; 

 one in the possession of T. W. Tebbs, shot by him at 

 Blaby, about the same time ; and two in the flesh in 

 winter plumage shot at Fleckney, by Mr. C. Allsop, 

 20 Oct., 1885. Harry Throsby shot one with a cata- 

 pult, on the canal near the gas-works, Aylestone Road, 

 Leicester, 2 Feb., 1888, which he brought to me in 

 the flesh. Mr. A. Dalby of Castle Donington shot 

 two 6 Jan., 1894. Mr. J. T. Hincks shot one at 

 the Sewage Farm in 1899, which he presented to the 

 museum. Mr. O. Murray-Dixon shot one in 1904, 

 and a female on I Sept., 1905, both of which are 

 in the museum, and another 6 Sept., 1905, all at 

 Svvithland Reservoir. Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 

 1907: '20 Aug., 1902, two seen at Saddington 

 Reservoir.' 



176. Little Stint. Tringa minuta, Leisler. 



A rare autumnal migrant. A Mr. Thos. Goatley, 

 writing in The Zoologist for 1867, p. 991, is the 

 first recorder of this species for the county, men- 

 tioning one shot in the Abbey Meadow in January, 

 1 867, which he had seen, but whether in the posses- 

 sion of Elkington, who preserved it, or in that of Mans- 

 field, who purchased it, is not clear. 19 Two were shot 

 out of a party of three, on 22 Sept., 1885,31 Sadding- 

 ton Reservoir, by the late Dr. Macaulay, who pre- 

 sented them to the museum. The Rev. W. H. Mar- 

 riott shot one at Saddington Reservoir, which was 

 unfortunately recorded as being Temminck's Stint 

 (see following species). 



Dr. Macaulay informed me that a specimen was 

 shot on the brick-yard ponds, Kibworth, in March, 

 1893. Mr. O. Murray-Dixon reports that he shot 

 a little stint with plumage approximating to the 



See also Little Gull (192), for both of which notee I am 

 indebted to Mr. W. J. Horn. 



summer dress on 22 Sept., 1904, at Swithland 

 Reservoir. 



[Temminck's Stint. Tringa temmincki, Leisler. 



The late Dr. Macaulay recorded (Mid. Nat. 1882, 

 p. 78) that a specimen of this bird was shot at Sad- 

 dington Reservoir in 1860 by Rev. H. Marriott, and 

 was seen and identified by Rev. A. Matthews. This 

 statement, after being copied into many publications, 

 unfortunately proves to be an error ; for, suspecting the 

 bird might be referable to the previous species, I 

 wrote to the Rev. Henry Marriott, who, replying on 

 2 Jan., 1888, most kindly sent me the identical 

 specimen to examine. The first glance showed me 

 that it was a little stint in immature plumage ; and, 

 indeed, Mr. Marriott himself wrote : ' I have al- 

 ways been under the impression that the bird in 

 question is only the Little Stint,' and again : ' I am 

 not, myself, in any way responsible for the error.' 

 Temminck's Stint must therefore be erased from the 

 Leicestershire fauna. To prevent similar mistakes I 

 may, without giving all the points of difference, point 

 out one unerring test by which the two closely-allied 

 species may be distinguished in any stage of plumage ; 

 Temminck's Stint has the outer tail-feathers pure 

 white, the Little Stint has those feathers ashy brown.] 



[Curlew Sandpiper. Tringa subarquata (Gtlldenstadt). 

 Locally, Curlew-billed Sandpiper, Pigmy Curlew. 

 A spring and autumn visitant. Its occurrence in 

 the county rests upon the vague statement of Harley, 

 who wrote : ' The appearance of this species of 

 Tringa in the county I am enabled to record on the 

 testimony of a sportsman resident at Loughborough, 

 who shot one on the banks of the Soar.'] 



[Purple Sandpiper. Tringa striata, Linn. 



Five skins were purchased for the museum in 1904, 

 said to have been shot at Belgrave Sewage Farm, which, 

 if correct, would establish another new record. The 

 condition of the skins, however, with other hypotheses, 

 suggests that at present the verdict should be 'not 

 proven.'] 



177. Sanderling. Calidris arenaria (Linn.). 



A rare straggler from the coast, where it is common 

 in winter. Some years since, according to Harley, 

 who examined them, three or four birds of this species 

 were shot near the reservoir in Charnwood Forest. 

 Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 1907 : 'One shot three 

 or four years ago near Callow Hill, Great Bowden, 

 and now in the possession of Turner, a postman in 

 Market Harborough. This bird has been seen and 

 identified by the Rev. H. H. Slater.' 



178. Ruff. (2 Reeve.) Machetes pugnax (Linn.). 

 A spring and autumn migrant. The first specimen 



recorded for the county is one shot by Mr. A. K. 

 Perkins, at Saddington Reservoir, on 19 Aug., 1887. 

 It proved on dissection to be a female. A second 

 and much larger example, an immature male, was shot 

 at the Beaumont Leys Sewage Farm on 14 Dec., 

 1899, b y Mr. J. T. Hincks. Both specimen are in 

 the museum. 



179. Common Sandpiper. Tetanus hypoleucus (Linn.). 

 Locally, Summer Snipe. 



^ A summer visitant, sparingly distributed, remaining 

 with us, in ordinary seasons, from the middle of 



150 



