FIG. 1.

PL. VIII.

Bemrose Ltd. Colle.

Ornithological Notes from Derbyshire for the Year 1906.

BY THE REV. FRANCIS C. R. JOURDAIN, M.A., M.B.O.U.

N January 19th Mr. G. M. Bond saw a drake Scoter, Oedemia nigra (L.), fly over the road between Ashburne and Hanging Bridge as he was driving home from Ashburne. It was so close to him that he had every opportunity of identifying it, and he is, moreover, familiar with the appearance of the bird, having in his possession another drake which was shot within a mile of the spot on November 4th, 1904.

Mr. J. Henderson came across a very large flock of Redpolls on January 29th in the Dove Valley, near Okeover-at least a hundred in number. The weather was mild, and the Thrushes, Mistle Thurshes and Hedge Sparrows could be heard singing in all directions. On February 8th the hedgerows near Osmaston were covered with Fieldfares in the morning, and in the afternoon great flocks passed over Clifton in a westerly direction. Next day we had about four inches of snow, which, however, did not stay long.

Herons have been much more numerous during the last year or two in the Dove and Manifold Valleys. It is quite a common thing to see five or six on the wing at the same time, and as they were reported to be nesting in a wood not far off, I walked up the river on February 20th to the place, and again later in the year, but could find no trace of nests, and am inclined to think that they come across the hills from the Churnet Valley, where a small heronry has been established of late years.

At Mapleton a remarkably early Blackbird's nest in a laurel hedge contained young birds on March 6th.

On March 10th Mr. A. S. Hutchinson received a cock Blackbird, which had been killed near Derby. The plumage was entirely of a pale cinnamon colour, with a few lighter feathers under the chin. On the 19th I picked up a fresh Wild Duck's egg in a small swamp not far from Dovedale, from which I had flushed several duck. On the same afternoon while walking with Mr. J. Henderson by the river Dove we noticed a Phylloscopus on the opposite side, about twelve yards. away. The wind was cold and the bird kept low down beneath the shelter of the bank, and did not utter a note, but after a careful examination through the Goerz glass, we came to the conclusion that it must be a Chiff-Chaff, P. rufus (Bechst), the feet being too dark for the Willow Warbler. The early arrival is the more remarkable as since the summer of 1903 the Chiff Chaff has entirely deserted the upper Dove valley, where it was formerly common. Subsequently, however, we found breeding pairs established at Norbury and Offcote, so that it appears to be gradually re-colonizing the district. With the exception of this solitary individual, no Phylloscopi were seen till April 2nd, when Mr. Henderson reported the arrival of a second, probably also a Chiff Chaff. A fine old elm tree not far from Ashburne has been occupied by a pair of Brown Owls and two or three pairs of Jackdaws for many years past. On climbing to the hole and looking in, I saw the owl sitting quietly on the nest. As she flew off she disclosed two eggs, which appeared to be much incubated (March 20th). There were no dead mice or birds in the nest.

On March 26th we noticed some eight or ten Wheatears on a ploughed field in the Dove valley, about three and a half miles from Dovedale. Now the Wheatear is a common summer visitor to Thorpe Cloud, Bunster, and the whole upland country to the northward, but curiously enough, although it probably follows the course of the Dove valley in order to reach its breeding haunts, I have never met with it on passage in the