BIRDS 



[Roseate Tern. Sterna dougalli, Montagu. 



This rare summer visitant is included in the Leices- 

 tershire list on the authority of Harley, who wrote : 

 'The author has an opportunity afforded him of re- 

 cording its visit to his native county, the bird having 

 been shot by Chaplin on Groby Pool in the year 

 1836. The example was examined by us, and was 

 correctly described shortly after its capture. The 

 pectoral feathers down to the vent were of a roseate 

 hue, denoting its distinctive race. Moreover, there 

 were some other peculiarities equally as obvious be- 

 longing to the example, which we were careful to 

 examine, and which could not be mistaken by us we 

 refer to its bright orange feet. The bird was shot 

 about the period of the summer solstice. It was pre- 

 served, but was suffered to go to decay in consequence 

 of the ignorance of the artist who prepared the skin, 

 making use of improper ingredients for that purpose.' 

 I cannot but think some mistake has been made, 

 Harley probably not being aware that most of the 

 white-breasted terns have, when in breeding plumage 

 and alive, or a short time after death, the breast 

 suffused with a roseate tinge. The ' bright orange ' 

 feet depend upon how far the orange was translated 

 by Harley in the direction of red, the feet of Sterna 

 dougalli being described by Dresser as ' reddish orange,' 

 and by other authors as 'red.'] 



189. Common Tern. Sterna jluviatilis, Naumann. 



Of accidental occurrence on spring and autumn 

 migration. Harley wrote : ' I recollect seeing several 

 birds of this species a few years since hovering over 

 the River Soar close to the town of Leicester, immedi- 

 ately below the castle, busily engaged in taking small 

 fish. It has been shot in most parts of the county, 

 but especially in the vicinity of the Soar and Trent.' 

 A specimen is recorded in the museum donation- 

 book as having been shot at Leicester on 1 3 Nov., 

 1858 ; another (a female) at Saddington Reservoir on 

 15 Oct., 1881, by the late Dr. Macaulay ; a third at 

 Aylestone, on 29 Oct., 1881, by Mr. E. Batten, and 

 a fourth a female, and, like the last, in immature 

 plumage at Saddington Reservoir, on 1 6 Oct., 1886, 

 by Mr. A. K. Perkins. The three last examples are 

 now in the museum. Mr. Ingram informed me that 

 it visits the Belvoir Lake occasionally, generally after 

 strong easterly gales. An immature specimen was 

 shot on Saddington Reservoir in 1895. Mr. O. 

 Murray-Dixon saw one 12 May, 1903, at Swithl.ind 

 Reservoir, and Mr. G. Frisby reports that four of these 

 birds were very busy taking small fish from the surface 

 of the water on 20 Sept. 1906. 



190. Arctic Tern. Sterna macrura, Naumann. 

 Locally, Sea Swallow (applied to all Terns). 



Of accidental occurrence on vernal and autumnal 

 migration. Harley recorded that in the spring of 

 1842, during the prevalence of north-west gales, this 

 species was unusually abundant in the county, especially 

 from 7 to to May, when they might be seen ' in 

 small groups, varying in number from a single bird 

 up to ten, fifteen, and even twenty individuals ' on the 

 streams and pools, and he saw numbers along the 

 Rivers Soar and Trent. I procured a beautiful adult 

 male in perfect plumage at Saddington Reservoir on 

 25 May, 1886, and saw at Kibworth a mounted 

 specimen which had been shot at Thornton some 

 years previously. Mr. O. Murray-Dixon saw one at 



Swithland Reservoir, 3 May, 1904. The late 

 Dr. Macaulay reported one shot at Saddington 

 Reservoir on 17 Aug. 1888, by Mr. A. Perkins. 

 Dr. J. Young of Narborough presented to the 

 museum a male specimen which was killed by flying 

 against the telegraph wires on 14 Aug. 1890. 



191. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn. 



A new record for the county was created by 

 Mr. Alick Duncan of Knossington Grange, who wrote 

 under date 2 Oct., 1901, that he had seen a strange 

 bird like a tern, but smaller, flying over a small pond 

 in front of the house : ' The tail was quite short and 

 not forked, the back was a very light slatish grey 

 colour, looking in the distance a greyish white ; the 

 breast was white, the head seemed to have a black 

 spot between the eye and some black in front, a little 

 white showing also ; the beak was a little over an inch 

 long and quite black. The bird kept very close to 

 the water, flew quickly, but with a floppy motion, 

 rather like a bat, and picked the flies off the surface of 

 the water, leaving a little ring where its beak touched 

 the water. It had a very silent flight and was quite 

 tame, often coming within six yards of where I stood. 

 I watched it for nearly two hours before it settled, 

 which it did on the edge of the water ; it was too 

 dark to see whether it really settled or only stood in 

 it; it then flapped its wings about in the water and 

 flew to the bank, where I left it. I was not able to 

 see its legs.' The next day it was shot and proved to 

 be, as may be supposed, the little tern in immature 

 plumage. 



192. Little Gull. Larus minuttis, Pallas. 



A very rare straggler from the coast. Elkington 

 recorded a specimen which was shot between Old 

 Belgrave Locks and Lady Bridge. In support of this 

 Mr. W. J. Horn has called my attention to the 

 following, contributed by a Mr. Thomas Goatley to 

 the Zoo/, for 1867, p. 991 : ' I have just seen two 

 birds which I believe are of very rare occurrence in 

 this country, namely, the little stint, Trixga minuta, 

 and the little gull, Larus minutus. They were both 

 shot in the Abbey Meadow, close to the town of 

 Leicester, in January last, and stuffed by Mr. Elking- 

 ton of that place, who sold them to Mr. Mansfield of 

 Birmingham, birds'-eye maker, and in whose possession 

 they are now. I have a letter from Mr. Elkington 

 containing the names of the two gentlemen who shot 

 the birds and describing the Abbey Meadow as a very 

 large field of grassland, bounded on one side by the 

 canal and on the other by the " old Soar," and in 

 winter time often overflowed with water.' [See also 

 Little Stint, 1 76 ante.] An immature specimen shot by 

 Wesley, late gamekeeper, at Bradgate Reservoir in the 

 winter of 1889 is now in the museum and is probably 

 the only authentic local specimen. 



193. Black-headed Gull. Larus ridibundus, Linn. 

 Locally, Peewit Gull, Red-legged Gull. 



An accidental straggler in spring and autumn. 

 Mr. Bloxam in his MS. notes says : ' Peewit gull is 

 not uncommon about Ashby Wolds ; I had a young 

 one shot this summer there.' An immature bird in 

 the possession of Mr. T. Stevenson, of Kibworth, was 

 shot some years ago at Thornton Reservoir. The 

 museum possesses a pair in immature plumage, said 

 to have been shot at Belgrave on 3 Nov. 1881. 



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