BIRDS that this bird laid one more egg after 3 June. Accord- ing to Harley, a cream-coloured specimen, now or formerly in the Leverian Museum, was shot at Belvoir Chase, or rather Croxton Park, the seat of the Duke of Rutland (Latham, General Synopsis (Suppl. i), 110). Mr. J. T. Hincks shot a female specimen at Brunt- ingthorpe, I Jan., 1891. Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 1907 : 'Occasionally in the Park, Market Har- borough. Last year (1906) it nested near my house, and I frequently see it in my orchard." 85. Great Spotted Woodpecker. Dendrocopus major (Linn.). Locally, French Magpie. Resident, but not common. Mr. Babington (Potter, op. cit. App. 68) stated that it ' is found in' old woods all round the Forest, but it is not very common.' Harley remarked that in his day the species was seldom seen, except in the vicinity of the parks of Beaumanor, Bosworth, Donington, Garendon, and Gopsall. Mr. H. S. Davenport records one in Staunton Wood on 30 March, 1889, and the late Dr. Macaulay in- formed me that on 28 April, 1886, he saw at Elking- ton's a male specimen which had been shot at Stanton. Mr. G. Frisby writes on 12 April, 1906, that he watched a pair preparing a nesting-hole. Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 1 907 : ' On 4 May, 1896, I heard and saw one in the Burbage Woods, near Hinckley, and on I April, 1905, 1 saw and heard one (calling as it flew) at Saddington Reservoir. I heard and saw another on 21 April, 1905, at Luben- ham. This bird was at work on a hard dead tree and the blows sounded like pistol shots. It has nested in this district.' The Rev. Hugh Parry has found its nest and eggs within the last few years in the vicinity of Tugby. 86. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Dendrocopus minor (Linn.). Resident, but sparingly distributed ; probably rarer than the preceding species. Mentioned by Mr. Bab- ington (Potter, op. cit. App. 68) as having occurred near Groby. Harley observed that near Leicester it affected the elms standing on the grounds at Dannett's Hall and Westcotes, and near Loughborough was known to haunt the trees at Burleigh Fields ; it was also met with at Beaumanor, Croxton, Donington. Garendon, Gopsall, and Market Bosworth. He remarked that this bird descends trees tail foremost in a spiral manner, performing this reversed motion quickly and easily, without jerks. The Rev. Hugh Parry has found its nest and eggs within the last few years near Tugby. The late Dr. Macaulay reported one taken at East Langton in October, 1889, by Mr. Oliver. He also wrote that a female specimen was shot at Kibworth on 25 Feb., 1890, by Mr. Peberdy. Mr. F. Bouskell saw one on an ash tree at Knighton, on 13 Oct., 1889. Mr. W. J. Horn writing in 1907 mentions the fol- lowing : On 29 April, 1894, a female near Huncote Mill ; another on 10 March, 1894, near Burbage Wood ; on 1 6 Feb., 1896, two males at Burbage Woods ; and on 7 April, 1896, a male and two females at the same place. He saw a pair in the spring ot 1896 in Market Bosworth Park, which nested in
- King Dick's Clump.'
Mr. Horn also records the following : One, 10 July, 1896,3! Bosworth Park ; one, 1 6 Feb., 1898, at Market Harborough ; one, 5 May, 1 900, at Luben- ham ; and three pairs nesting in Market Harborough in 1905. Mr. Otto Murray-Dixon shot one at Swithland 26 Feb., 1904, and Mr. E. Frisby reports seeing a pair at the 'bird-table' in Beaumanor Park from November, 1904, to March, 1905, and states that a nesting-hole of this bird was completed 8 April, 1906. 87. Kingfisher. Akedo ispida, Linn. Resident, but sparingly distributed. Harley once caught one in a severe winter almost unable to fly, from the fact that ' its tiny red feet were encased with ice, some pieces of which hung like ear-drops to its claws.' Mr. Ingram wrote : ' Occasionally seen near the little River Devon and by the Lake. Two birds dashed against the Rectory window at Bottesford and were captured, and afterwards liberated.' Elking- ton reported several from the vicinity of Leicester during the winter of 1884-5. I have repeatedly observed specimens on the brook at Knighton and on the Soar at Aylestone, near which a nest, with nine eggs, was found 22 May, 1885. It has, I believe, bred at Blaby, Bosworth, Bradgate, Desford, Stapleford Park, &c. The Rev. Father Sullen, writing from Ratcliffe in January, 1891, says: 'In the first week of last April I discovered a nest (consisting entirely of small fish bones and on which were deposited seven eggs) at the far end of an old rat hole in a bank by the river. The narrow hole which led to the nest was lined with a mixture of fish bones and broken shells, clay and the excrements of the bird. This composition was phos- phorescent and emitted a most unpleasant smell.' Mr. G. Frisby says this bird is a frequent visitor to the brook in the centre of the village of Quorn, and on 7 April, 1906, he saw one sitting on its eggs. Mr. W. J. Horn, writing in 1907, reports it as occasionally to be seen flying along the Welland at Market Harborough, and mentions that two or three pairs breed in that neighbourhood. 88. Hoopoe. Upupa cfofs, Linn. A rare spring and autumn visitant. The first notice I can find of this bird is contained in a letter from Mr. Sebastian Evans, of South Kensington, to the late Rev. Churchill Babington, who handed it to me. He wrote : ' The hoopoe which was in the possession of T. Cope, esq., at Osbaston Hall, was shot in 1828, at I think Nailstone, which comes just within your district.' Harley wrote : ' This species has occurred in the county in immature plumage, a fine example having been shot in the lordship of Stapleton on 15 September, 1851.' This was presented by him to the museum, where it is still preserved (1907). He further recorded : ' It is said to have occurred also at Bradgate Park and near Lutterworth.' The museum donation-book records the presentation on 26 June, 1867, by Mr. C. Burdett, of another example 'shot in the county of Leicester.' I saw at Elkington's a very fine one, apparently a male, of a deep buff-pink colour and pure white and black, resembling the most richly-coloured South European specimens. It had only been that day set up and was shot at Great Peatling on n May, 1883. Mr. W. A. Vice, M.B., has told me since then that another was in its company. Mr. W. T. Tucker, writing on 23 Oct., 1905, says : ' We have had presented to our museum a good specimen of the hoopoe, which was shot some 133
