BIRDS Hinckley, where the bird was sitting on five eggs, 2 June, 1891. Mr. G. H. Frisby writes 25 July, 1 906 : ' I saw two young birds (two others escaped) caged, the old bird had nested in an apple tree at Col. Curzon's, Woodhouse.' Mr. W. J. Horn, writing in 1907, says also that he had heard on good authority that two or three pairs nested in an orchard at Lubenham in 1905. He gives the following records : 14 March, 1895, three birds seen at Croft ; I Jan., 1897, one seen at Market Harborough ; 12 April, 1895, one seen near Bur- bage ; 4 March, 1902, a pair seen in the Park, Market Harborough ; 21 March, 1896, one seen at Monk's Kirby; 10 March, 1902, a pair seen in the park, Market Harborough. 52. Goldfinch. Carduelis elegans, Stephens. Locally, Draw-water, Proud Tailer, or Tailor, Thistle-Finch. Resident, but sparingly distributed. Mr. Ingram wrote that it ' builds in apple-trees ; two or three pairs generally in the gardens of Belvoir Castle." Mr. T. B. Ellis of 'The Gynsils' writes : 'In one or two apple- orchards I know it builds regularly.' Mr. J. S. Ellis tells me that up to 1863, when he left Glenfield Lodge, a nest or two were found every year in the orchard, and always built in a fork at the top of an apple-tree. A specimen was shot by Mr. G. R. Brook at Whet- stone in 1898. Mr. W. J. Horn, writing in 1907, says : ' Nests in Market Harborough. I found the nest in the hedge of our cricket ground.' He adds the following records : 12 March, 1904, three specimens seen on canal bank ; 26 June, 1 904, seen at Lubenham ; 14 April, 1905, seen at Nevill Holt and a dozen other places. By this it appears that the bird is commoner in some parts of the county than others, and Mr. H. S. Davenport, writing from Melton Mowbray in 1906, considers it much more common than formerly, as also does Mr. H. Butler Johnson, in the vicinity of Swannington. 53. Siskin. Carduelis spinus (Linn.). Locally, Aberdevine. An uncommon winter visitant, not breeding in the Midlands. Mr. Babington mentioned it (Potter, op. cit. App. p. 67) as having been observed in flocks at Thringstone and Rothley Temple, among alders, during 1837. Harley once met with a vast com- pany of siskins (some 400 or 500), in the northern division of the county, among large alder-trees beside a stream at the lower end of Oakley Wood. In the autumn of 1 849 the species was frequently met with, but has not appeared since in such numbers in any part of the county. The late Dr. Macaulay (Mid. Nat. 1883, p. 86) saw a flock of about twenty in a lane near Gumley on 15 Nov., 1882. Of the specimens in the museum, one was taken at Thur- caston in 1881, two (male and female) were taken at Kirby Muxloe, 1 1 Dec., 1885, and three (two males and one female) were shot at Belvoir on 14 Jan., 1886. 54. House-Sparrow. Passer domestlcus (Linn.). Locally, Thack (or Thatch)-Sparrow. Resident and far too common, breeding every- where ; variable as to plumage, colour and size of eggs The Mid. Nat. of Aug., 1881, contains an account of some sparrows which were seen at Overseal feed- ing a canary that had escaped from its cage. On 6 Jan., 1890, I shot on the Aylestone Road, Leicester, a female variety, chestnut and white, and another, presented to the museum, was shot at East- field, Stoneygate, 30 Sept., 1890. As showing the extreme variability of the eggs of this pest, the writer has procured from the ivy covering his house at Whetstone, clutches of five fours, three threes, five twos and one, all taken in one day, 15 June, 1903, and no two clutches were alike in colour varying from reddish brown to almost white. A curious grey variety shot on the New Estate at Cosby was presented to the museum by Mr. McCart- ney on 15 June, 1903. 55. Tree-Sparrow. Passer montanus (Linn.). Locally, Mountain-Sparrow, Wood Sparrow. Resident, but sparingly distributed over the wood- lands. Mr. Davenport shot one at Skeffington in Dec., 1876. Mr. H. Ellis shot one at Glenfield on 29 Dec., 1 88 1. The late Mr. R. Widdowson sent me one from Melton Mowbray. I killed one (a female) at Blaby, 25 March, 1884, and others con- sorting with chaffinches and greenfinches in snowy weather at Knighton, 14 Jan., 1885. A male shot at Melton Mowbray was presented to the museum on 10 Feb., 1894, and two males and one female shot at Whetstone were presented by Mr. L. E. Gill in 1899. Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 1 907 : ' Several pairs nest in the pollard willows where I have found the nest, 10 March, 1894. I saw a flock of over fifty feeding in Mr. Kendall's stackyard close to Croft Quarry, 17 April, 1900." 56. Chaffinch. Fringilla caekbs, Linn. Locally, Pink or Spink, Pye-Finch, Pie-Finch. Resident and common, breeding in gardens and plantations close to Leicester. With regard to the flocking of hen chaffinches in the autumn, as narrated by Gilbert White, Harley believed that writer to be in error, as the birds might be immature individuals of the year and not females. In confirmation of this theory I have shot many, and found the apparent females to be, as suspected, immature specimens of both sexes. Mr. Ingram wrote from Belvoir that they flock there ' in thousands, and are useful in destroying the seeds of weeds." The eggs vary : Mr. Davenport notes ' an extraordinary pale-green, elongated egg, taken at Skeffington in May, 1 879,' also a clutch of five, shaped like a snipe's and of the colour of a starling's eggs, and two clutches of a delicate pale-blue entirely unspotted; and Mr. W. A. Vice presented to the museum on 9 May, 1885, a nest containing five eggs of this de- scription, taken by him at Blaby. The Rev. G. T. Armitage wrote on 21 Nov., 1892 : 'About a fort- night ago one of our farmers shot a white chaffinch, which I am having stuffed.' A female variety, appa- rently a hybrid with a (?) greenfinch, from Tugby, was given to the museum by the Rev. Hugh Parry on 4 Jan., 1895. Mr. G. Frisby writes, 26 July, 1906: ' A chaffinch was sitting on eggs, using the same nest the second time ; both broods were reared.' 57. Brambling. Fringilla montifringilla, Linn. Locally, Mountain Finch, French Pye or Pie. A winter visitant, sparingly distributed, and though often found in flocks, does not remain to breed in 127
