BIRDS fully preserved. Practically all the heather covered ground in the High Peak is occu- pied by them as well as the long ridge known as the East Moor on the left bank of the Derwent, as far south as Matlock. On the western side a good many breed round Buxton, and small isolated colonies may be found where heather exists between Buxton and Alsop-en-le-Dale. In severe weather when the moors are covered with snow partial migrations to lower ground take place, and occasionally stragglers have been killed in the southern plain. Thus Sir O. Mosley and Mr. E. Brown (Nat. Hist. ofTutbury, pp. 52, 104) have recorded that packs visited the district between Burton and Derby during the winter of 1860 61, and one was shot near Ashbourne in January, 1860. These birds may have come from Cannock Chase, where they have been introduced. Many were driven south by the great storm of De- cember, 1901, as far as Kirk Ireton Q. B. E. Blackwall). A very light coloured grey variety was shot by Col. J. C. Cavendish in September, 1898. 164. Pheasant. Phasianus colchicus, Linn. Probably at the present time there is no such thing as a pure bred P. cokhicus in the county, but all our resident birds show signs of interbreeding with the Chinese ring-necked pheasant (P. torquatui) and other species. About 1875 or 1876! saw a splendid cock bird killed in the Derwent valley in the extreme north of the county, where these birds are scarce and no artificial rearing is carried on, which had all the appearance of a pure bred bird, and possibly a few may still survive. Comparatively few pheasants are to be found in the valleys of the north, and they are of course absent from the moors and highlands, but in other parts of the county they are common, and large numbers are artificially reared every year on many estates. Owing to wholesale crossing and exchange of eggs variations in plumage are common and pied and white individuals often occur. J. J. Briggs (Zool. p. 4253) mentions a hybrid between the pheasant and the black grouse which was shot near Melbourne, and specimens of the same cross are preserved in the collections at Chaddesden Hall and Calke Abbey from Breadsall Moor (Hon. F. Strutt). 165. Partridge. Perdtx cinerea, Latham. Unlike the pheasant the grey partridge is one of our indigenous birds and must have been very numerous a century ago in spite of the many raptorial birds which were then found in Derbyshire (see Journ. Derb. Arch. and Nat. Hist. Sue. 1892, p. 178, etc.). At the present time it is still fairly common, especially in south Derbyshire, but is of course absent from the moorlands. A. S. Hutchinson has recorded a mottled variety from Foremark in 1890 (Field, April 4, 1891), and the same writer (Field, May 4, 1901) mentions a case in which a partridge survived the loss of both feet, and was at last killed by a weasel after injuring itself against some telegraph wires ! 1 66. Red-legged Partridge. Caccabis rufa (Linn.). Locally, French Partridge, Frenchman. Although this species was practically un- known in Derbyshire half a century ago it is at the present day not uncommon in the Trent valley, and has extended its range considerably of late years, being found locally over all the country south of a line drawn through Belper, while a few pairs are allowed to breed as far north as Taddington (W. Boulsover), and in 1901 they were observed for the first time in the Alstonefield district. 167. Quail. Coturnix communis, Bonnaterre. Formerly a regular spring visitor to south Derbyshire and probably to the east of the county as well, but its numbers have steadily diminished and now it can only be described as nesting occasionally with us, especially in the Trent valley. A nest with fourteen eggs was found by mowers near Ashbourne about 1870, and another pair are said to have bred at Brassington. They are known to have nested near Burton, and on the sewage farm at Egginton a nest with nine eggs was found in 1892. Bretby, Swarkestone and Melbourne are also known as former breed- ing places. 1 68. Landrail or Corncrake. Crex pratensis, Bechstein. A common spring visitor especially to the fertile valleys of the south. In the north it is rather local and not so common. F. B. Whitlock figures a beautiful white variety killed at Kedleston in September, 1892. 169. Spotted Crake. Porzana maruetta (Leach). There is little doubt that this interesting species nests annually in the valleys of the Trent, lower Derwent and Erewash. A few penetrate up the Dove valley, and in Octo- ber, 1897, one was killed in lower Lathkill Dale, but the majority of our records come from south-east Derbyshire. The Rolleston Hall Museum contains a nest of six eggs 143
