2oo Peacock : The Birds of North- West Liridsey. 



fares to empty his gun as we were leaving- the Snake 

 Plantation in the winter's twilight One bird fell, and we 

 took off its skin and had it for years, believing- the specimen 

 to be a melanistic Fieldfare. My brother now believes it was 

 the Black-throated Thrush (7". atrigularis Temminck) of 

 Siberia. I have not seen this species, and still believe it 

 was an unusual Fieldfare off-type in colour. It had a very 

 dark head, wings, and tail, a black throat, and very light 

 grey breast and under-parts. The matter must ever remain 

 uncertain, as the skin was destroyed by moth long ago. 



Blackbird. Turdus merula Linn. Common. Two most 

 beautifully-pied specimens in full breeding plumage were 

 shot by Charles Todd at Yaddlethorpe about 1866. I once 

 found an egg of this species, with three other eggs of the 

 normal shape, no bigger than a French Bean (Phaseolus 

 vulgaris Linn.), and almost exactly its shape. It was very 

 flat on two sides. 



Ring-Ouzel. Turdus torquatus Linn. Is seen at times in 

 spring and autumn. We caught one while taking Gold- 

 finches in a trap cage in Bottesford Manor garden in the 

 early autumn, 1872. It has bred near Gainsborough and in 

 Greyingham Gorse, Div. 5. Saw one bird, 5th June 1890, 

 at Bottesford. My last date before that was 3rd Sept. 1887, 

 when two were observed. Mr. Brewster says, * Appears at 

 South Kelsey in the spring, but does not stay.' 



Wheatear. Saxicola oenanthe (Linn.). Found on our sandy 

 commons. It bred with us in three spots in 1894. 'Very 

 scarce at South Kelsey.' Local, on account of the places it 

 frequents. 



Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.). By no means common, 

 but nests in small numbers yearly. 



Stonechat. Pratincola rubicola (Linn.). Is local, but seen 

 at times on Dicky Barley's Moor, the Black Rabbit Warren, 

 Crosby, and Manton Warrens. There can be little doubt it 

 breeds in other places too. I have never taken the eggs of 

 this species. Div. 2. 



Redstart. Ruticilla phoenicurus (Linn.). Is very rare inland 

 now. It bred at Greyingham in the period 1880 to 1890. 

 I had an egg from a nest there. At Kirton-in-Lindsey it 

 was once commoner than elsewhere, but Mr. Hunsley says 

 (1900), ' I have only seen one for six or seven years.' 



Naturalist, 



