A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE pairs nest among the cornfields or in the grass up to about 600 feet. In the Trent valley and also that of the lower Dove and Derwent it is most numerous, arriving in south Derbyshire about the beginning of April. 43. Tree-Pipit. Anthus trivialis (Linn.). Locally, Titlark, Bank Lark. A very common summer visitor to nearly every part of the county except the moors and the bleakest uplands, but naturally most common in the fertile and well wooded val- leys of the Dove and Derwent and on the rising ground in the Trent valley. Local eggs show the usual variations in colouring and type of markings. The cuckoo occa- sionally deposits its eggs in nests of this species. 44. Meadow-Pipit. Anthus pratensis (Linn.). Locally, Moor Titlark. This bird is not a summer visitor like the preceding species, but a resident, although subject to partial migrations. Many pairs may be found breeding on the moorlands and mountain pasture at 1,000 feet and upwards, replacing the tree-pipit ; but here and there a few pairs may be found breeding in the broad treeless meadows of the southern plain, al- though the ranges of the two birds seldom overlap. In the north of the county the meadow-pipit is the usual foster parent of the cuckoo. 45. Golden Oriole. Oriolus galbula, Linn. Four examples of this beautiful bird have been shot at different times in Derbyshire. Of these three at least were killed in the spring, and in one case there is a presumption that a nest existed in the neighbourhood. A hen was killed at Egginton on May 28, 1841, and is now in the Rolleston Hall Museum (Nat. Hist, of Tutbury, pp. 38, 95). This bird showed signs of incubation, and the male was seen but not secured. A male was seen by the Rev. T. J. Jones near Tideswell about 1858. Another was killed by a boy near Burton on April 19, 1871, and a cock bird was obtained near Kirk Ireton by a man named Kiddy ' some years ago ' (Birds of Derbyshire, p. 69). Mr. J. Whitaker re- cords the fourth, which was shot at Cres- well on May 13, 1889 (Zoo/. 1889, p. 352). 46. Great Grey Shrike. Lanius excubitor, Linn. Locally, Wierangel (F. Willughby), Butcher Bird (Glover). Records of the visits of this species exist from the time of Francis Willughby (1676), who in his Ornithology asserted that it ' is found in the mountainous parts of the north of England, as, for instance, in the Peak of Derbyshire.' Two were shot by the Rev. F. Gisborne of Staveley, one on November 1 6, 1762, and the other curiously enough on November 16, 1793. Pilkington in 1789 mentioned one shot near Derby, but gave no further particulars. One was killed at Burton Bridge on December 2, 1844 (Nat. Hist, of Tutbury ', p. 37). Mr. E. Brown also states that several have been killed near Burton, but one of these at any rate was a Staffordshire bird. Two were killed at Draycott in January, 1890 (Birds of Derby- shire, p. 70). Mr. W. Storrs Fox, writing in 1893, says that three have been killed at different times by Mr. Peat of Curbar. One of these, stuffed by himself, is still in his possession. In April, 1899, another was seen near Baslow by the same observer, but a long shot failed to secure it (Zoo I. 1900, p. 429). 47. Red-backed Shrike. Lanius collurio, Linn. Locally, Butcher Bird, Lesser Butcher Bird (Glover). A summer visitor in small numbers to southern and eastern Derbyshire, breeding usually near the same spot year after year. Individuals have occurred in different parts of the county, but always under 500 feet, penetrating into the Dove valley as far as Thorpe (where they breed), to the Derwent valley as high as Curbar (nesting occasionally near Matlock), and in the north-east to the Rother valley, where the nest has been taken near Sutton Scarsdale. It is not however common in any part of the county north of the Dove and Trent valley. 48. Woodchat. Lanius pomeranus, Sparrman. One was identified by the late Mr. J. J. Briggs (Zool. p. 2478) on May 19, 1839, while devouring a yellow bunting which it had impaled. [Red-eyed Flycatcher. Vireo olivaceus, Bonaparte. Mr. E. Brown (Nat. Hist, of Tutbury, pp. 94, 385) describes and figures a male bird of this species said to have been caught, to- gether with a female, by a birdcatcher named Richard Pickney at Chellaston in May, 1859. The male bird alone was preserved, and is now the property of Mr. Lyon of Tut- bury.] 128
