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 A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE nest on 1 8 April, containing six eggs, at Slawston Gorse. Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 1907: 'I saw one a few days since perched on a tree in my orchard.' 111. Osprey. Pandlon hallditus (Linn.). A rare autumn visitant. Babington recorded (Potter, op. cit. App. p. 65) one shot by the Marquis of Hastings at Donington Park, October, 1841. According to Harley one was shot in Sileby Field in 1 840, while sitting on the shafts of an agricultural roller. A third example was obtained by Adams at Groby Pool; and in 1841, during the autumnal months, Sir Oswald Moseley recorded that a fourth was shot at Overseal. The late Mr. Widdowson in- formed me of one, a male, fired at by George Hack, of Edmondthorpe, to whom I wrote, and who said that it was killed on 13 Nov., 1858. Mr. Widdow- son told me subsequently that after the shot was fired the bird flew about fifty yards, and Mr. Hack thought he had killed it, but on skinning it there was not a single fresh shot in it, but an old one through the breast bone, in the cavity of the stomach, and much coagulated blood. Mr. Widdowson re- marked that he had ' no doubt the exertion killed it, and that it received this wound at Stapleford Park, where it was previously shot at.' I received one shot at the reservoir, Bradgate Park, on 1 8 Sept., 1879, by C. Overton, keeper to Lord Stamford. It was a fine female specimen. Overton, who had several opportunities of observing it feed, saw it take several fishes with hardly a miss. This specimen was mounted for the late Earl of Stamford and Warrington, and is, I believe, now at Enville. Wesley, keeper at Bradgate, informed me that in March, 1887, he saw a fine example at the reservoir in Bradgate Park, and repeatedly saw it catch fishes. The Mid. Nat., Nov., 1882, records the following : One seen at Saddington Reservoir on 1 3 Oct., one over Gumley Wood and Pool on 1 8 Oct., and another seen by the Rev. A. Matthews flying over his garden at Gumley on 22 Oct. 1 1 2. Cormorant. Phalacrocorax carbo (Linn.). An accidental straggler from the coast, and the first record was that furnished by the late Dr. Macaulay, who took me to see an immature bird in the possession of Mr. J. Potter, station-master of East Langton, who told me that it was caught alive in a grass-field near Langton Hall on 6 Sept., 1883, after a strong gale the previous day from the south- west. The Rev. Father Bullen, of Ratcliffe College, wrote in January, 1891 : 'A member of the community assures me that he saw three young birds fly over the square wood on the college property, in a southerly direction, and this was in the first week of last August.' The late Dr. Macaulay wrote : 'On 7 April, 1891, I saw a cormorant at Saddington Reservoir. I had my field glasses with me, and watched it for some time on the wing. It came within fifty yards of me, and I could see the colour of the head, neck, and crest, and most clearly the white patch above the leg.' The Leicester Chronicle and Mercury of 2 1 Oct., 1893, reported the capture of a cormorant in the grounds of Belvoir Castle by a man named Thomas Holmes about the middle of August. Mr. Otto Murray-Dixon saw one on 17 April, 1904, and another 7 Sept., 1905, whilst on 10 Oct., 1906, he saw two others, all at Swithland Reservoir. Mr. G. Frisby wrote on 1 6 Oct., 1906: 'I saw them settle on Mr. Farnham's fishpond ; two days later (18 October) one was shot. The man who picked it up was followed for a long distance by the bird's mate, ' croaking.' ' 113. Shag, or Green Cormorant. Phalacrocorax graculus (Linn.). This, a new record for the county, is founded upon the head and neck of an immature specimen presented to the museum in 1890 by the Rev. Father Bullen, about which he gave me the following particulars : ' About thirty years ago, Mr. Goodman, the RatclifFe miller, caught an immature bird (the head of which you have) in a meadow by the side of the river Wreake, near Ratcliffe village. He says it was wing- tired. It only lived a few days in confinement. The plumage was dark-brown above, and dull-white, mot- tled with pale wood-brown below.' Mr. T. A. Macaulay reports that a shag was shot at Saddington Reservoir on 20 Aug., 1892. 114. Gannet, or Solan Goose. Su/a bassana (Linn.). An accidental straggler from the coast. Harley re- corded that a young male of the year was picked up in a dying condition on the borders of Buddon Wood, near Quorndon, date unfortunately not noted. Mr. Babington (Potter, op. cit. App. p. 70) supplemented this by saying that it was in the possession of Miss Watkinson, of Woodhouse. Potter of Billesdon records a specimen caught alive at Houghton-on-the- Hill, in September, 1869. The late Dr. Macaulay recorded (Mid. Nat. 1882, p. 79) that an immature bird of this species, which had been wounded, was picked up half dead at Shangton in 1878, and that he saw it, after it was set up, in the possession of Mr. Ward, farm-bailiff, Wistow. Mr. Ingram wrote : ' A young bird shot between Bottesford and Scarrington, near the River Smite, is in the possession of Mr. H. V. Fowler of Scarrington.' The late Mr. Widdowson wrote : ' One killed at Somerby near here ' (N.D.). Mr. A. Dalby, of Castle Don- ington which is on the border of the county and near the Trent has been very careful to distinguish the birds shot in Leicestershire from those of Derby- shire, and amongst other valuable notes gives the following, under date 26 Jan., 1896 : 'An immature specimen in its first year's plumage was found alive in Tonge Brook, near here, and brought to me in September, 1892. It died, and I had it set up, and it is still in my possession.' 115. Heron. Ardea cinerea, Linn. Locally, Crane (by error), Frank (in allusion to its note), Hernshaw. Resident, sparingly distributed and breeding in a few localities. A young male shot at St. Mary's Mills, 7 Sept., 1 88 1, is now in the museum. Harley recorded that it used formerly to build at Mere Hill Wood near Cotes, placing its nest on the lateral branches of the Scotch fir, from whence he had taken its eggs. It also built in Martinshaw Wood, where in the spring of 1 840 the birds were shot down and de- stroyed. After that date he stated that the species had but one habitat in the county where it nested, viz. at Stapleford, the residence of Lord Harborough, and even there it was not very abundant, only about half '38