BIRDS a few pairs of the handsome great crested grebe (Podicipes cristatus) nest annually in at least one district. In the level meadows of the lower Dove and Trent we meet for the first time with the reed-warbler (Acrocephalus streperus), the redshank (Totatms calidris) and the spotted crake (Porzana maruetta). But the disappearance of the larger birds of prey is not the only change that has come over our ornis of late years. Other species, such as the stonechat (Pratincola rubicolci), pied flycatcher (Muscicapa atrlcapilld) and woodlark (Alauda arborea) have unaccountably disappeared, while the reed-warbler has diminished in numbers. On the other hand the haw- finch, the redshank, the tufted duck and the red-legged partridge (Gaccabis rufa) have been added to our list of breeding species, while there has been a very distinct increase in the breeding range of the turtle-dove (Turtur communis) formerly unknown except in the extreme south of the county. In 1893 F. B. Whitlock estimated the total number of species which have occurred in the county as 241, but he included several birds whose right to a place in the British fauna has never been admitted, viz. : Red-eyed flycatcher (Fireo olivaceus) Egyptian goose (Chenalopex tegyptiaca) White-bellied swallow (Tacbycineta bicolor) Summer duck (Aix sponsd) Canada goose (Bernicla canadensis) Besides these the following species were included on dubious or erroneous evidence : Blue-headed wagtail (Motacilla flava) Crane (Grus cinerea) Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) Black-tailed godwit (Limosa belgica) Iceland falcon (Falco is/andus) Buffon's skua (Stercorarius parasiticus) Rock-dove (Columba livia) Since that time the following species have been definitely added to the county list : Blue-headed wagtail (Motacilla flava) Black-throated diver (Colymbus arcticus) Night heron (Nycticorax griseus) The number of British species therefore of whose occurrence within our boundaries reasonable proof exists is 233, besides 13 species which are treated of in their proper place and whose presence by natural means has been regarded as ' not proven.' These include, beside the species mentioned above, the pine-grosbeak and the passenger-pigeon. The regular breeders are 101 in number at the present time, but within the last forty years the raven, woodlark, short-eared owl and hen harrier all nested in the county, and there is some evidence that the golden oriole, siskin, crossbill and cirl bunting have occasionally bred. The principal authority on Derbyshire ornithology is F. B. Whit- lock's Birds of Derbyshire (1893), a work which shows some signs of hasty compilation but nevertheless contains much valuable material. On page 1 9 a useful sketch of the previous literature on the subject is given, and since that time, with the exception of a few papers by Mr. W. Storrs Fox and the present writer in the Zoologist, hardly anything of importance has been published on the subject. Roughly speaking the principal i 121 16
