lOO CLARKE AND NELSON: THE IIIRDS OF YOK^KSHIRE. 



our copse on the dimple which suited them so well, till they 

 were so incessantly disturbed.' In 1884 a pair attempted to 

 nest in the Spa grounds in Harrogate, and attracted much 

 attention. Their fate, I am told, is shrouded in mystery.' — W.E.C. 



The late Mr. Peter Inchbald wrote as follows in the 'Field' 

 for the 14th of May, 1887 : 'Two pairs of Nightingales have 

 appeared at Knaresborough, about two miles from Harrogate, 

 during the month of April. They were first heard about the 

 28th, and have taken up their summer home at Scriven Park, 

 and on the banks of the River Nidd. The estate belongs to 

 Capt. Slingsby. The soil is the Magnesian Limestone. So far 

 as I can learn it is their first visit to Knaresborough. It is to 

 be hoped that the birds will not be disturbed in their nesting 

 operations. The warblers have been singing for the past fort- 

 night, continuing their charming .song till long after midnight.' 



In the 'Naturalist' (December, 1889, p. 356), writing 21st 

 of August, 1889, the Rev. E. P. Knubley gave corroborative 

 evidence of the appearance of the songsters at Knaresborough, 

 as follows : ' I have pleasure in being able to put on record the 

 occurrence and nesting of two pairs of Nightingales in some 

 woods within a short distance of Knaresborough. I am not at 

 liberty to be more precise as to the locality, as I have given an 

 undertaking not to do so.' 



The latest information I have been able to procure as to 

 the Knaresborough district is that contained in a letter from 

 Mr. H. W. Carson, dated the 21st of February, 1901 : 'A pair of 

 Nightingales were here in the summer of 1892 or 1893. They 

 settled in a bank of blackthorn and garden orchards below St. 

 Robert's Chapel, on the banks of the River Nidd. Numbers 

 of people went out at night to hear the male bird sing, I went 

 one night ... A number of rough lads then threw stones 

 at the birds, and they disappeared. I have no information of 

 any being seen in this district since.' 



Trans. V.N.U., 1898 (pub. 1901). Series P 



