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THE BIRDS OF NORTH-WEST L1NDSEY. 



MAX PEACOCK. 

 Cadney, Brigg, Lincolnshire. 



PART I. 



This list is no attempt to 4 re-do' the late John Cordeaux's life- 

 work ; I have too much respect for his memory to attempt 

 anything- of the kind. It is, on the other hand, an effort to 

 make notes, as far as possible, as complete for North-West as 

 Mr. Cordeaux did for North-East Lindsey. I do not claim to be 

 a trained ornithologist in the modern sense, and have never 

 possessed a typical collection of skins to help me. My only 

 books have been Bewick, Morris, Cordeaux, and Saunders. 

 For many years I have made irregular and very casual jottings 

 of what I have observed, and this list is the result, thanks to 

 the very considerable help of other workers, whose notes have 

 been added. I believe that these pages will fairly outline the 

 birds which attempt to breed with us, though, speaking 

 generally, they badly represent the frequency of the rarer 

 immigrants occasionally visiting us in the spring and autumn, 

 and the casual Falconidae, apparently following them north or 

 south in their flight. The list of warblers is far from perfect. 

 During the last twenty-five years I have seen a number of 

 species I could not identify, and, on account of their rarity, 

 could not find it in my heart to shoot them. 



The valley of the Trent, lying north and south in West 

 Lincolnshire, is a great migration road for inland birds, more 

 especially in rough spring and autumn weather. The Lower 

 Liassic hill, running with a steep escarpment ciose to and 

 parallel with the river, forms a natural barrier of protection in 

 north-east and east gales. Storm-driven species of coast and 

 deep-sea genera may at times be found sheltering in the river 

 when rough weather has lasted some days. My brother Adrian, 

 ' the Vicar ' of the notes, who lived on that part of the Trent 

 bank for some years, noticed from 1876 to 1883 that when the 

 Trent from Auckborough to Crosby was full of 'strange birds 

 and wild calls,' that the Little Auk, Storm Petrel, or other deep- 

 sea fowl were sure to be reported from more distant inland 

 localities. There were notable storms in January 1887 and 

 November 1896, in which the Herring Gull, Black-backed Gull, 

 Kittiwake, and Common Gull, as well as the birds named above, 

 were all driven inland. Mr. Cordeaux told the Vicar on the last 



1902 June 1. 



