A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE of the Dove basin. There is still another change when the rapidly flowing Dove is merged in the waters of the slower Trent with its wide expanse of flat meadow flanking the great river on either side. Almost every kind of scenery meets us in turn, and each region has its charac- teristic birds ; the one thing lacking from an ornithologist's point of view being the succession of marsh and mere which proves so attractive to wildfowl and waders. However even this defect is partly atoned for by the presence of a sewage farm near Egginton, which here as in other parts of England has proved a great attraction to these birds. Many years ago Sinfin Moor must have been an ideal resort for wildfowl ; but its glory has departed, and it has long since been drained and turned to more utilitarian purposes. The moors of the north, which in appearance are almost unaltered, still show some traces of their ancient fauna. Two hundred and thirty years ago, as Willughby tells us, a pair of golden eagles (Aquila chrysae'tus} bred here, merlins (Falco cesalon) and hen harriers (Circus cyaneus) patrolled the moorlands, while short-eared owls (Asio accipitrinus) nested among the heather, and kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) and ravens (Corvus corax] might be found breeding on the tors. Now a pair or two of merlins lead a precarious existence every summer, the harriers are gone, and the short-eared owl is little more than a stray visitor, while our resident ravens have long been exterminated ; but the ring-ouzel is common on the wildest parts of the * tops,' the curlew (Nutnenius arquata) and the golden plover (Cbaradrius pluvialis) still breed, and along the fringe of the moor the nightjar (Caprimulgus europaus] lays its two eggs on the bare peat. The meadow-pipit (Anthus arvensis) utters its melancholy note as a cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) flies past ; a pair of twites (Linota favirostris] fly away twittering, and in the evening the reel of the grasshopper-warbler (Locustella navia) sounds from the heathery slopes, while the red grouse (Lagopus scoticus) is ubiquitous and the cries of the cocks may be heard wherever we go. On the Howden and Longdendale moors a few couple of teal (Nettion crecca) nest, and on the peat-stained mountain streams dip- pers (Cine/us aquaticus], grey wagtails (Motacilla melanope) and sandpipers (Totanus hypoleucus) are all common. On the bare uplands bird life is comparatively scarce, but the lap- wing (Vanellus vu/garis), the corn-bunting (Emberiza miliaria) and the wheatear (Saxicola cenanthe] are conspicuous, and a few blackgame (Tetrao tetrix) may be found haunting the wind-swept plantations. Formerly scores of buzzards (Buteo vu/garis) and kites (Mihus ictinus] nested in the woodlands and soared over the commons of the south ; but these have long disappeared and only a few kestrels (Falco tinnuncu- lus] and sparrow-hawks (Accipiter nisus) breed in diminished numbers, while the same may be said of the three species of owls which still nest regularly with us. The lesser redpoll (Linota rufescens) is not uncommon, and the hawfinch (Coccotbraustes vu/garis) though local may almost be said to nest gregariously in favoured spots. Wherever the least encour- agement is given the tufted duck (Fuligula cristata) establishes itself, and 1 20
