A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE [Glossy Ibis. Plegadis falcinellus (Linn.). Locally, Black Curlew. This rare bird is now but an accidental visitant to Britain, but was formerly common enough to be men- tioned in the old doggerel distich : ' A Curlew, be she white or be she black, She carries twelvepence on her back.' The ' Bickley collection ' in the museum contains a fine specimen of this bird, for which the late Mr. Widdowson told me } 31. was paid by Mr. Bickley to the fortunate sportsman who brought it to him. The late Dr. Macaulay stated (Mid. Nat. 1882, p. 77), in reference to this specimen : ' I have been recently informed by the donor's brother that it was killed on the border of the county and within it.' This, how- ever, is an error, and Leicestershire cannot claim this rara avis, for on the back of the case it is thus labelled : 'This rare and valuable specimen was shot near the Derby Railway Station in February, 1842, H. B.' Also, 'Killed near Derby, February, 1842.'] i 20. Spoonbill. Plataka leucorodia, Linn. This is a new record for the county, founded upon a mounted specimen purchased for the museum and said by the taxidermist to have been shot by Gervasse Reckless at Cropston Reservoir on 6 July, 1892. 121. Grey Lag Goose. Anser cinereus, Meyer. Locally, Wild Goose. An uncommon winter visitant. According to Harley, this species was shot in the county during the hard frost of the winter of 1842, and the late Dr. Macaulay (Mid. Nat. 1883, p. 86) stated that one was shot at Shangton on 10 Dec., 1882. 122. White-fronted Goose. Anstr albifrons (Scopoli). An uncommon winter visitant. I have seen a fine specimen which was shot at Tur Langton on 1 8 Dec. 1879, by Mr. Owen West (Mid. Nat. 1882, p. 2). The late Dr. Macaulay stated that the specimen shot by Mr. O. West was one of three, and that Mr. J. Brown shot another and they ate it. Mr. G. Frisby writes on 28 Dec., 1906 : 'Half a dozen of these were at some little distance from the Canada geese, but did not mix with them.' 123. Bean-Goose. Anser segetum (J. F. Gmelin). An uncommon winter visitant. Harley observed : ' The narrow-billed grey goose occasionally visits us, and appeared in the county during the month of October, 1842, making its transit by large flocks in a north-westerly direction.' Mr. Davenport records a specimen which was shot at Noseley by Mr. A. M. Hazlerigg in December, 1880. The late Dr. Macaulay obtained a specimen (immature), shot at Smeeton, 1 1 Dec. 1890, by Mr. John Peberdy. The Report of the Rugby School Nat. Hist. Soc. (1884) contains the following note by E.E.A. : ' Wild goose, probably Anser segetum : I saw a flock of about fifteen or twenty in flight near North Kilworth, 22 January, 1885 ; a fanner near there told me that he had seen six separate flocks pass over his house one morning a short time before.' 1 24. Bernacle Goose. Bernicla leucopsis (Bechstein) Locally, Barnacle. A very rare straggler from the coast. This, a new record for the county, rests on one I saw in the hands of a taxidermist, and which Mr. W. Whitaker tells me was shot at Thornton Reservoir during the first week of April, 1891. 125. Brent Goose. Bernicla brenta (Pallas). Locally, Black Goose. An uncommon winter visitant, the occurrence of this species inland at a distance from the sea being very unusual. Harley, however, stated that several were shot at Kirkby Mallory on 3 1 Dec., 1 844. The museum donation-book records one shot at Syston and presented by the Literary and Philosophical Society, 28 Jan., 1854. [Egyptian Goose. Cbenalopex aegyptiacus (Linn.). This species is so often kept in a state of semi- domestication on private waters and so often contrives to effect its escape, that it is very doubtful if any of the specimens which are from time to time shot in a state of freedom are really wild birds. Nevertheless, although not so common as the Canada goose, it may in time, like that, become semi-feral, or feral. Harley stated that one was shot close to Leicester, 4 March, 1843. It bore no sign of captivity, and had three companions, which went away in a southerly direction. This is probably the specimen in the museum, re- corded in the donation book as 'shot on the river Soar, 1843,' by Mr. H. S. Hamel. Mr. W. J. Horn records that five of these birds visited the 'Ballast Hole' at Welham, on 27 Aug., 1898 ; one was shot by Mr. George Thwaites, of Market Har- borough, and is now in his possession.] [Canada Goose. Bernicla canadensis (Linn.). An introduced species often found at large, con- gregating in large bodies especially in winter, and flying so far afield as to give rise to the conviction that, if not now, it will soon become feral. Mr. Wilfrid Moss, of Loughborough, reported three Canada geese shot on the Soar in April, 1891, and at first supposed to be either brent or bernacle geese. The late Dr. Macaulay informed me that there were three Canada geese on Saddington Reservoir on 29 March, 1892. Both Mr. Otto Murray-Dixon and Mr. Frisby report it from Swithland Reservoir ; the latter gives the following note : ' At a fishpond near Woodhouse a pair of Canada geese rear their young every year, returning in the breeding season. No sooner, however, have they settled in their old quarters, their young accompanying them, than there arises a great commotion, and the parent birds are seen driving off their young with great noise, excitement, and per- sistency, which ends in the young birds having to depart and the old ones settling down once more to their all-important duties.' On 1 8 Sept., 1906, he saw thirty fly over Quorn in one flock, and on 28 Dec., 1 906, over a dozen were on Swithland Reservoir. Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 1907 : 'On 7 May, 1895, a bird of this species flew over my head when I was in the Burbage Woods.] 126. Whooper Swan. Cygnus musicus, Bechstein. Locally, Elk, Whistling Swan, Wild Swan. An uncommon winter visitant. Mr. Babington (Potter, op. cit. App. p. 69) recorded this swan as 140
