BIRDS' 



Owing to its geographical position the number of species of birds 

 observed in Derbyshire must necessarily be small when compared with 

 that of such favoured districts as Yorkshire or Norfolk. For not only is 

 it so far distant from the sea that marine birds as a rule only visit it 

 under stress of weather, but with the exception of the Trent valley, 

 which intersects the southern part of the county, the greater part lies 

 outside the great migration routes. On the other hand the bird life of 

 Derbyshire possesses a peculiar interest from the fact that the limits of 

 the range of many of our northern and southern species overlap here. 

 Thus the heather-covered spurs of the Pennine range in the north are 

 the home of many birds which are only rarely and exceptionally found 

 breeding in the great central plain of the midlands or in the southern 

 counties which lie to the east of the Devonian peninsula. Amongst 

 these may be mentioned the ring-ouzel (Turdus torquatus), the grey wag- 

 tail (Motacilla me/anope), the twite (Linota flavirostris) , the merlin (Falco 

 cesalori), the red grouse (Lagopus scoticus), the golden plover (Gharadrius 

 p/uvia/is), the common sandpiper (Totanus hypoleucus] and the curlew 

 (Numenius arquata). On the other hand the rich meadow lands and 

 well wooded parks in the south of the county are within the normal 

 limits of the breeding range of some of our more distinctively southern 

 species, such as the nightingale (Daulias luscinia) , the reed-warbler (Acro- 

 cephalus sfreperus), the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio) the nuthatch 

 (Sitta ctesia), the wryneck (lynx torquilla] the turtle-dove (Turtur com- 

 munis), and the red-legged partridge (Caccabis rufa), although many of 

 these birds are also known to breed in suitable districts further north. 



There is moreover another characteristic which to some extent 

 compensates for its rather scanty limits, namely the great diversity in the 

 character of the country. Few counties contain a greater variety of 

 scenery : in a few hours we pass from the vast heather-covered wastes of 

 the High Peak, broken here and there by masses of millstone grit, 

 through the fertile Derwent valley to a bleak upland country almost 

 devoid of trees except here and there in the hollows, where hedges are 

 replaced by monotonous stone walls. Here quite unexpectedly we find 

 ourselves at the edge of a deep gorge, at the bottom of which we catch a 

 glimpse of the river winding its way through the steep limestone but- 

 tresses and gradually working down into the well wooded rolling country 



1 I must acknowledge my indebtedness to the following gentlemen who have most kindly assisted 

 me with information : Messrs. W. Storrs Fox, H. G. Tomlinson, L. E. Adams, W. Crowther, R. Hall, 

 W. N. Statham, J. J. Baldwin Young, W. Boulsover, A. S. Hutchinson and G. W. Pullen. 



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