A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE 



wings. Curiously enough the same keeper 

 trapped another and even larger bird on 

 November 4, 1895, after it had haunted the 

 dale for a month. Another was shot on 

 December 2 or 3, 1895, near Curbar, and 

 is in the possession of Mr. Hodgkinson (W. S. 

 Fox) ; and on January 1 1, 1 896, a remarkably 

 large and white bird was killed by a keeper 

 on the Derwent Moors (J. J. Baldwin Young). 



1 08. Golden Eagle. Aquila chrysaHtus (Linn.). 



We believe that there is no record of the 

 golden eagle having bred in any English 

 county south of the Lake district, with the 

 exception of Derbyshire. Pilkington quotes 

 Willughby's description of a nest found in 

 the Woodlands (i.e. the chapelry of Derwent- 

 Woodlands) near the river Derwent in the 

 year 1668, 'made of great sticks, resting one 

 end on the edge of a rock, the other on two 

 birch trees, upon which was a layer of rushes, 

 and over them a layer of heath, and upon the 

 heath rushes again, upon which lay one young 

 one and an addle egg, and by them a lamb, a 

 hare and three heath poults. The nest was 

 about two yards square and had no hollow in 

 it. The young eagle was black as a hobby, 

 of the shape of a gos-hawk, of almost the 

 weight of a goose, rough footed or feathered 

 down to the foot, having a white ring about 

 the tail.' The same writer mentions another 

 taken about 1720 on Kinder Scout in an 

 exhausted state, and says that in 1759 and 

 1782 eagles were seen at Hardwick which 

 presumably belonged to this species. In 1823 

 a golden eagle was shot between Cromford 

 and Lea Wood (Glover), and J. J. Briggs 

 (Zoologist, 1843, p. 178) records another as 

 haunting the High Tor, Matlock, for a few 

 days in the winter of 1843. This last bird 

 is however just as likely to have belonged to 

 the next species. 



109. White-tailed Eagle. HaliaStus albmlla 



(Linn.). 



The white-tailed eagle is a not uncommon 

 winter visitor to the north Derbyshire moors. 

 Probably some of the eagles mentioned in the 

 article on the golden eagle belonged to this 

 species. In 18367 two were killed in the 

 Derwent Woodlands, and in 1886 two more 

 were killed on the Derwent Moors. A third 

 was wounded and got away, but was after- 

 wards found in a state of decomposition by 

 the keepers. In 1887, on November 26, 

 one of these birds attacked a dog, but was 

 shot by a keeper named Hancock on Farley 

 Moor near Matlock Bank. Another was 

 shot near Strines in the winter of 1889, 



and in October, 1891, a fine bird, measuring 

 7 ft. 6 in. across the wings, was shot by a 

 keeper on the Hathersage Moors. In March, 

 1892, an eagle (probably of this species) was 

 seen by several people near Monsal Dale 

 station, and remained for about a week. In 

 the spring of 1893 an eagle was seen several 

 times on the Ramsley Moors, but managed 

 to escape (W. S. Fox). 



no. Goshawk. Astur palumbarius (Linn.). 



Glover includes this bird in his list, but 

 gives no particulars. On March 21, 1893, 

 a large hawk made a descent upon a wired 

 aviary outside Mr. Storrs Fox's house at Bake- 

 well. It appeared to be injured, and was 

 squatting under the hedge when observed, 

 but rose and made its escape, flying very low. 

 From the description this bird must have 

 belonged to this species. In the Derby 

 Museum there is a specimen which formed 

 part of the Jebb collection, and in a letter to 

 the Hon. A. N. Curzon, Mr. Jebb refers to 

 a goshawk shot near Ashover, probably this 

 very bird. 



Hi. Sparrow-hawk. Ampiter nisus (Linn.). 



Not common anywhere owing to continual 

 persecution on the part of gamekeepers and 

 others, but isolated pairs are to be met with 

 in all our wooded districts. The nest is 

 usually built early in the spring, but the first 

 egg is not laid till about May 8, and others at 

 intervals of two and even three days, so that 

 the old bird begins to sit about the end of the 

 third week in May. 



H2. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny. 



Described by Pilkington as common in 

 1789, and still well known and numerous 

 in Glover's days, the kite has now long 

 ceased to be a resident, and has only visited 

 us at rare intervals of late years. According 

 to Sir O. Mosley, it was never plentiful in 

 the Tutbury district and had completely dis- 

 appeared at the time he wrote. The Derby 

 Museum contains a local specimen obtained 

 near Ashover, and two others were shot in 

 1888, one on Hulland Ward and the other 

 at Radbourne (F. B. Whitlock, Birds of 

 Derbyshire, p. 138). 



113. Honey-Buzzard. Pernis apivorus (Linn.). 



Two instances of the occurrence of this 

 scarce summer visitor are on record. Pilking- 

 ton in 1789 says that one was shot at Aston- 

 on-Trent, and in June, 1843, Mr. John 

 Heppenstall (Zeal. i. 247) records one as re- 

 cently obtained by Sir G. Sitwell's keepers. 



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