BIRDS 



(Birds of Derbyshire, p. 155), and a male was 

 killed by another keeper on Mr. Burkett's 

 trout ponds at Langwith in the spring of 1889 

 (Zoo/. 1890, p. 357). 



127. Common Bittern. Botaurus stellaris 



(Linn.). 



Not an uncommon winter visitor and prob- 

 ably formerly a resident, as Mr. Gisborne 

 records his having killed one in July, 1768. 

 F. B. Whitlock in the Birds of Derbyshire gives 

 particulars of some twenty-four occurrences, 

 in nearly all of which the birds were killed. 

 To these may be added the following : One 

 shot on Christmas Eve, 1860, at Kniveton ; 

 another at Morley in November, 1889 (G. W. 

 Pullen) ; a third from Egginton, and a fourth 

 from Smally in January, 1900 (A. S. Hutch- 

 inson) ; a fifth from Spondon on January 17, 

 1901. The Rolleston Hall Museum also 

 contains one which was shot at Chatsworth 

 in December, 1894. The latest of which I 

 have any note was killed at Lea near Matlock 

 early in January, 1902 (R. Hall). 



128. White Stork. Ciconia alba, Bechstein. 

 According to R. Garner (Nat. Hist, of 



Staffordshire) : ' Has occurred several times on 

 the Dove.' One of these birds, killed by Mr. 

 Emery (prior to 1 844), is referred to by Sir O. 

 Mosley as having been killed in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Tutbury. 



129. Glossy Ibis. Plegadis falcinellus(L,mn.). 

 F. B. Whitlock (Birds of Derbyshire, p. 1 59) 



mentions three cases in which this bird has 

 been shot in Derbyshire, at Chellaston, Wal- 

 ton-on-Trent and Derby respectively. None 

 of these occurrences are recent, but date back 

 to fifty or sixty years ago. 



130. Spoonbill. Platalea leucorodia, Linn. 

 This conspicuous bird has been twice ob- 

 served (ibid. p. 159) : one having been killed 

 at Butterley reservoir ' many years ago,' and 

 another shot on the Erewash near Toton in 

 1847. The specimen in the Rolleston Hall 

 Museum was shot within a mile of the Dove 

 on June 14, 1872, and probably passed up 

 the Trent valley. 



131. Grey Lag-Goose. Anser cinereus, Meyer. 

 Comparatively few wild geese visit us, and 



those which are seen frequently pass over the 

 Trent valley far out of shot. Sir O. Mosley 

 (Nat. Hist, of Tutbury, p. 55) however de- 

 scribes them as common fifty years ago (about 

 1813), and states that he has shot them him- 

 self on the Dove in severe winters ; but at the 

 present time they are seldom seen and still less 

 frequently shot. 



132. White-fronted Goose. Anser albifrons 



(Scopoli). 



An occasional visitor to the Trent valley in 

 severe weather. 



133. Bean -Goose. Anser segetum (J. F. 



Gmelin). 



Although reported to have occurred once 

 or twice the only definite record of this species 

 is Mr. Hutchinson's note in the Birds of 

 Derbyshire, p. 161. Two were killed and a 

 third wounded in December, 1890, on the 

 Trent, by a keeper of the late Sir F. Burdett. 

 The wounded bird was afterwards found dead 

 at Repton. 



134. Pink-footed Goose. Anser brachyrhyn- 



chus, Baillon. 



Probably the greater number of our visiting 

 wild geese belong to this species. In 1856 a 

 large flock visited the Trent valley, and seven 

 were shot on December 7 (J. J. Briggs) at 

 Weston, while Sir O. Mosley mentions an- 

 other killed at Winshill near Burton in the 

 same year. Other specimens have been re- 

 corded from the Trent valley in 186970, 

 1877, 1880, 1881, about 1887, and in 1891 

 Whitlock saw a flock of forty-three flying 

 over the Erewash. 



135. Bernacle - Goose. Bernicla ieucopsis 



(Bechstein). 



Although one of the more exclusively shore- 

 haunting species, this bird has nevertheless 

 several times occurred in Derbyshire. Pil- 

 kington mentions one obtained at Barlborough. 

 Sir O. Mosley says it 'has been occasionally 

 shot' near Tutbury, and that one associated 

 with his Canada geese for some weeks in 

 December, 1859. A small gaggle of, I think, 

 four birds, doubtless attracted by the presence 

 of the resident Canada geese, visited Ash- 

 bourne Hall pond about 1880, and subse- 

 quently I saw a single bird on the same water 

 in hard weather. 



136. Brent Goose. Bernicla brenta (Pallas). 



Stragglers of this species have also been 

 seen and shot in Derbyshire. In Pilkington's 

 time it occasionally visited Sinfin Moor. 

 J. J. Briggs says (Zoel. p. 2822) that a flock 

 visited the Trent in January, 1841. Whit- 

 lock observed a single bird at the mouth of 

 the Erewash on October n, 1881, and Sir 

 R. Payne Gallwey (Letters to Young Shooters, 

 ser. 3, p. 64) describes how two were seen on 

 the Derwent near Derby about 1 890 and one 

 secured by an extemporized charge of gravel. 



139 



