BIRDS 



stone walls the nest is sometimes made in a 

 hollow in the wall or else on the ground near 

 at hand. Besides our resident birds, which 

 appear to move only under stress of weather, 

 we are visited by many flocks of migratory 

 birds in the autumn and winter. 



Albinos have been recorded from Egginton 

 and Sudbury, and a beautifully marked speci- 

 men, ' spangled and dashed all over with 

 white,' was shot at Derby in 1888 (Whitlock, 

 Birds of Derbyshire, p. 26). 



3. Redwing. Turdus iliacus, Linn. 



A common winter visitor to most parts of 

 the county : it is not particularly common in 

 the Dove valley however, and appears to be 

 rather local in the north. 



In January, 1786, a specimen was shot 

 which was entirely white, excepting the 

 feathers under the wing which were tinged 

 with reddish orange (Pilkington). 



4. Fieldfare. Turdus pilaris, Linn. 



A common winter visitor. As a rule the 

 fieldfare does not make its appearance in 

 Derbyshire before mid-October and some- 

 times not till November. In the autumn of 

 1900 however small flocks were reported 

 between Ashbourne and Buxton as early as 

 September 6, and others were reported from 

 various villages in the district during the next 

 fortnight (Field, September 20, 1900). In 

 south-west Derbyshire these birds affect the 

 higher ground as a rule, except during severe 

 weather when they come down to the valleys 

 and may be seen in gardens. In the north of 

 the county the low-lying districts appear to be 

 most extensively patronized. 



5. Blackbird. Turdus merula, Linn. 



Locally, Blackie, Ouzel (obs.) 



A very common resident in almost all parts 

 of the county. On the high moors its place 

 is taken by the ring-ouzel (T". torquatus) but 

 the ranges of the two birds overlap and in 

 some places they may be found breeding close 

 together. Mr. W. Storrs Fox found a black- 

 bird's nest with eggs on the summit of Glos- 

 sop Moor (about 1,500 feet), but this is an 

 exceptional case (F. B. Whitlock, Birds of 

 Derbyshire, p. 28). 



Soon after the first thrushes' nests are seen 

 those of the blackbird may be found. In one 

 case a nest with four eggs was found in the 

 Dove valley on February 15, 1898, but as a 

 rule eggs are seldom found before the last week 

 of March. The situation of the nest varies 

 considerably. I have seen them in conifers 

 quite 30 to 35 feet from the ground, inside 

 old barns and outhouses, in haystacks, in the 



walls of loose stone which take the place of 

 hedges on the high ground, and actually on 

 the ground, although the usual position is in a 

 hedge or tree a few feet up. Three distinct 

 types of egg are found : one resembles that 

 of the ring-ouzel, but is as a rule less strongly 

 marked ; another type recalls the egg of the 

 jay, and the pale blue eggs scantily marked 

 with faint brown spots or quite spotless are 

 almost indistinguishable from lightly marked 

 eggs of the thrush except for their rougher 

 surface. Pied, white and cream-coloured 

 birds have frequently occurred. 



6. Ring-Ouzel. Turdus torquatus, Linn. 

 Locally, Tor-ouzel. 



A common summer visitor to the highlands 

 of the county, arriving during the last days of 

 March or the first week in April. Its breed- 

 ing ground is north of a line drawn from 

 Ashbourne through Wirksworth to Chester- 

 field, and is defined with wonderful exactness 

 by the 1,000 feet contour lines. 1 It is perhaps 

 commonest in the High Peak, nesting on the 

 moors, but a good many pairs breed in the 

 precipitous sides of the numerous dales which 

 intersect the uplands. On the moorland the 

 nest is usually placed in a sheltered spot 

 amongst the ling on a bank, often by a road- 

 side or near a stream, and a few cases of nests 

 in trees or bushes have been recorded. In 

 the dales the nests are placed on ledges of the 

 limestone rock. The first clutches are gene- 

 rally laid during the second or third week in 

 May and the number of eggs is generally 

 four, not infrequently three, and rarely five. 

 Mr. W. Storrs Fox took a nest containing the 

 latter number from a hedge on May 10, 

 1900. It had apparently been built upon an 

 old thrushs' nest. Except in its breeding 

 grounds the ring-ouzel is a scarce bird in 

 Derbyshire and only occurs casually on migra- 

 tion. 



A good account of this bird as observed 

 in north Derbyshire by Mr. W. Storrs Fox 

 will be found in the Zoologist (1900), p. I. 



7. Wheatear. Saxicola cenanthe (Linn.). 



Locally, White-ear (Pilkington). 

 A summer visitor but rather local in its 

 distribution, being only found on rocky and 

 broken ground and in the ' stone wall ' dis- 

 tricts, and arriving about the third week in 

 March. In the plain country it is only 

 known as a scarce visitor on migration. The 

 eggs are five to seven in number and may be 

 found from the beginning of May onwards in 



1 Mr. Storrs Fox has however found nests in 

 Lathkill Dale considerably below 900 feet. 



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