A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE 



pairs nest among the cornfields or in the 

 grass up to about 600 feet. In the Trent 

 valley and also that of the lower Dove and 

 Derwent it is most numerous, arriving in 

 south Derbyshire about the beginning of 

 April. 



43. Tree-Pipit. Anthus trivialis (Linn.). 

 Locally, Titlark, Bank Lark. 



A very common summer visitor to nearly 

 every part of the county except the moors 

 and the bleakest uplands, but naturally most 

 common in the fertile and well wooded val- 

 leys of the Dove and Derwent and on the 

 rising ground in the Trent valley. Local 

 eggs show the usual variations in colouring 

 and type of markings. The cuckoo occa- 

 sionally deposits its eggs in nests of this 

 species. 



44. Meadow-Pipit. Anthus pratensis (Linn.). 

 Locally, Moor Titlark. 



This bird is not a summer visitor like the 

 preceding species, but a resident, although 

 subject to partial migrations. Many pairs 

 may be found breeding on the moorlands and 

 mountain pasture at 1,000 feet and upwards, 

 replacing the tree-pipit ; but here and there a 

 few pairs may be found breeding in the broad 

 treeless meadows of the southern plain, al- 

 though the ranges of the two birds seldom 

 overlap. In the north of the county the 

 meadow-pipit is the usual foster parent of 

 the cuckoo. 



45. Golden Oriole. Oriolus galbula, Linn. 

 Four examples of this beautiful bird have 



been shot at different times in Derbyshire. 

 Of these three at least were killed in the 

 spring, and in one case there is a presumption 

 that a nest existed in the neighbourhood. 



A hen was killed at Egginton on May 28, 

 1841, and is now in the Rolleston Hall 

 Museum (Nat. Hist, of Tutbury, pp. 38, 95). 

 This bird showed signs of incubation, and the 

 male was seen but not secured. A male was 

 seen by the Rev. T. J. Jones near Tideswell 

 about 1858. Another was killed by a boy 

 near Burton on April 19, 1871, and a cock 

 bird was obtained near Kirk Ireton by a 

 man named Kiddy ' some years ago ' (Birds 

 of Derbyshire, p. 69). Mr. J. Whitaker re- 

 cords the fourth, which was shot at Cres- 

 well on May 13, 1889 (Zoo/. 1889, p. 352). 



46. Great Grey Shrike. Lanius excubitor, 



Linn. 



Locally, Wierangel (F. Willughby), Butcher 

 Bird (Glover). 



Records of the visits of this species exist 



from the time of Francis Willughby (1676), 

 who in his Ornithology asserted that it ' is 

 found in the mountainous parts of the north 

 of England, as, for instance, in the Peak of 

 Derbyshire.' Two were shot by the Rev. F. 

 Gisborne of Staveley, one on November 1 6, 

 1762, and the other curiously enough on 

 November 16, 1793. Pilkington in 1789 

 mentioned one shot near Derby, but gave 

 no further particulars. One was killed at 

 Burton Bridge on December 2, 1844 (Nat. 

 Hist, of Tutbury ', p. 37). Mr. E. Brown 

 also states that several have been killed near 

 Burton, but one of these at any rate was a 

 Staffordshire bird. Two were killed at 

 Draycott in January, 1890 (Birds of Derby- 

 shire, p. 70). Mr. W. Storrs Fox, writing 

 in 1893, says that three have been killed 

 at different times by Mr. Peat of Curbar. 

 One of these, stuffed by himself, is still in 

 his possession. In April, 1899, another was 

 seen near Baslow by the same observer, but 

 a long shot failed to secure it (Zoo I. 1900, 

 p. 429). 



47. Red-backed Shrike. Lanius collurio, Linn. 



Locally, Butcher Bird, Lesser Butcher Bird 

 (Glover). 



A summer visitor in small numbers to 

 southern and eastern Derbyshire, breeding 

 usually near the same spot year after year. 

 Individuals have occurred in different parts 

 of the county, but always under 500 feet, 

 penetrating into the Dove valley as far as 

 Thorpe (where they breed), to the Derwent 

 valley as high as Curbar (nesting occasionally 

 near Matlock), and in the north-east to the 

 Rother valley, where the nest has been taken 

 near Sutton Scarsdale. It is not however 

 common in any part of the county north of 

 the Dove and Trent valley. 



48. Woodchat. Lanius pomeranus, Sparrman. 



One was identified by the late Mr. J. J. 

 Briggs (Zool. p. 2478) on May 19, 1839, 

 while devouring a yellow bunting which it 

 had impaled. 



[Red-eyed Flycatcher. Vireo olivaceus, 

 Bonaparte. 



Mr. E. Brown (Nat. Hist, of Tutbury, pp. 

 94, 385) describes and figures a male bird of 

 this species said to have been caught, to- 

 gether with a female, by a birdcatcher named 

 Richard Pickney at Chellaston in May, 1859. 

 The male bird alone was preserved, and is 

 now the property of Mr. Lyon of Tut- 

 bury.] 



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