BIRDS 49. Waxwing. Ampelis garru/us, Linn. Locally, Bohemian Chatterer (obs.), Waxen Chatterer (Glover). Many instances of the occurrence of this erratic winter visitor in our county are on record since 1774, when it was shot by Mr. Gisborne. Pilkington (1789) mentions a flock of fourteen seen at Smalley and Mel- bourne and one killed near Bolsover. Sir O. Mosley says that many were observed and some shot near Burton and Willington in the years 1827, 1835 and 1850; several were shot near Derby in January, 1829 (Glover) ; one shot and another seen at Hazelwood December 20, 1878 (Journ. Derb. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc. i. 127); one shot on the road by Shottle Wood near Hazlewood in January, 1879, by Major Holmes' keeper (J. C. Cox) ; another seen at Chellaston on January 11,1879 (Midland Naturalist, 1879) ; remains of a dead bird picked up near Bake- well in 1893 (W. S. Fox) ; one shot at Smalley January 22, 1895 (Zoo/. 1895, p. 69); and one shot at Matlock Bridge early in February, 1902 (R. Hall). 50. Spotted Flycatcher. Linn. Muscicapa griso/a, A common summer visitor to nearly every part of the county except the bleak upland country and the moors, often resorting to the same nesting site for many years together. J. J. Briggs (Zool. p. 2478) mentions one locality occupied for twenty years and an- other for nine. When two broods are reared in a season a fresh site is usually selected for the second hatch. In some clutches the ground colour is a distinct blue and the spots few, showing a decided approach to the egg of the pied flycatcher. 51. Pied Flycatcher. Linn. Muscicapa atricapilla, Locally, Goldfinch (Willughby). There is reason to believe that this beauti- ful species formerly bred regularly in small numbers in the dales of north-west Derby- shire ; but though an occasional bird is still seen in the spring, there are very few in- stances of its having nested with us of late years. Willughby in his Ornithology (p. 236) describes two specimens sent to him from the Peak by Francis Jessop, and Neville Wood mentions Buxton as a favourite resort, but adds, ' the latter occurs very rarely in any part.' Possibly a pair or two may have continued to nest in Dovedale till more recent times. Mr. W. N. Statham informs me that he found two nests at Matlock in 1892, and that two of the eggs are still in his possession. Stragglers on the spring migration have been recorded from Melbourne (Zool. p. 2478), Alderwasley (Zool. 1844, p. 645), at Draycott about 1873 and also more re- cently, and from Belper about 1883 (Birds of Derbyshire, p. 74). On May 14, 1887, I watched a cock bird for some time near Ash bourne ; in May, 1898, Mr. H. G. Tomlinson saw one near Tutbury ; on May 7 another was observed at Froggat (W. S. Fox), where one had been shot some years previously ; and a fine male bird was seen in Callow Wood near Ashbourne on May 4, 1902 (Mrs. Henniker). 52. Swallow. Hirundo rtistica, Linn. A common summer visitor to all parts of the county, entering by the Trent valley seldom before the end of the first week in April, but usually rather later, and gradually spreading over the country. Although the nests are almost invariably placed on or in buildings, I have once or twice found them in the roofs of caves in the limestone district. Chimneys are not resorted to for nesting pur- poses as in the south of England. 53. House-Martin. Chelidon urbica (Linn.). A summer visitor in considerable numbers, but less numerous than the preceding species ; nesting in the plains on the external walls of buildings and in parts of the Peak in colonies on precipitous rock faces. A large colony of this kind exists near Stony Middleton, but not in Dovedale, as Seebohm by a slip of the pen asserted (Hist. Brit. Birds, ii. 180). [American Tree-Swallow. Tachycineta bicolor (Vieillot). One bird of this American species was re- corded by J. Wolley (Zool. 1853, P- 3 8 6 ) as having been killed near Derby in 1850. It is now in the Norwich Museum (see also Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, p. 131, and Zool. 1860, P- 7I45)-] 54. Sand-Martin. Cotile riparia (Linn.). Locally, Bank Swallow. Common wherever suitable breeding places are available. A few are to be found nesting in the Peak, but the largest colonies are situ- ated in the Trent valley and those of the lower Dove and Derwent. In default of steep sandy banks, they have been known to nest in the interstices of a stone wall or sunk fence. The sand-martin usually ap- pears about a fortnight before the house- martin. 129
