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 A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE [Barbary Partridge. Caccabls petrosa (J. F. Gmelin). In April, 1842, a specimen of this partridge was picked up dead at Edmondthorpe, near Melton Mow- bray (Yarrell, Hist. Brit. Birds, ed. 4, in, 121). The late Mr. Widdowson informed me that he had this very specimen in his possession, and it was from this bird that Yarrell's figure of the species was taken. As these birds are often imported it may have been an escaped one.] 155. Quail. Coturntx communis, Bonnaterre. A rare summer visitant. Mr. Babington, writing in 1842 (Potter, op. cit. App. p. 68), said : 'Several killed one season between Whitwick and Bardon, some years ago, by Mr. Grundy, who kept a wounded bird alive for some time.' Harley wrote : ' Its visits are only irregular and uncertain and appear confined to meadow-lands and fields lying contiguous to our streams. On the banks of the Soar and the meadows abutting thereupon the quail is annually no stranger. It breeds there in small numbers.' He records its occurrence at Cossington, Barrow, Sileby, Thurcaston, and some other villages having low wet meadows, also one captured in the Market-place, Leicester, on i 5 Nov., 1 846, and an example shot on Mr. Win- stanley's estate at Braunstone on 20 Nov. of the s.ime year. Mr. J. Garle Browne, of Leamington, in 1845 killed five quails out of a bevy of nine, which he flushed and marked down close to Husbands Bos- worth, and on 24 Dec., 1856, he flushed one at Edmondthorpe. Mr. H. C. Woodcock, of Rearsby, had a quail which was killed on the railway by the telegraph wires ; he believed the date to have been about 1865. Mr. Davenport mentions that his father shot quail at Tilton in September, 1 867. The late Dr. Macaulay informed me that Mr. R. Symington, of Market Har- borough, shot a quail at Great Bowden in September, 1872, which was unfortunately not preserved. Mr. Ingram thought it occasionally bred in the Vale of Belvoir, as he had shot immature birds there with others. According to the late Mr. Widdowson it has often been found and has bred near Melton Mowbray, and I saw, in 1 885, in the Melton Mowbray Museum, a case containing a pair of quails, a chick, and eggs, labelled : ' Presented by Plumpton Wilson, January, 1847.' Mr. Stephen H. Pilgrim, of Hinckley, informed me that Mr. B. H. C. Fox, of Lutterworth and a party, when shooting over a farm at Gilmorton on 7 Sept., 1885, bagged three quails, and further writes: 'There was, I believe, only one bevy. The value of the note is, I am afraid, a good deal detracted from by the addition Mr. Fox makes, viz. : " I have always accounted for the quail being there by reason that they either escaped from or were turned out from Bitteswell Hall." I saw him the other day and he told me that Major Jary, of Bitteswell Hall, said that two or three had been turned out or escaped from there, but there is no doubt that the young birds of the bevy were bred on the farm at Gilmorton, which would, I think, be about l miles from Bitteswell.' The late Dr. Macaulay reported having seen in the possession of Mr. John Capell a quail which he shot at Mowsley, on 17 July, 1891. Mr. S. H. Pilgrim reported one shot at Harwell on I Sept., 1893, by Mr. P. Evershed. A fine male caught on the Cosby Road near Whet- stone was brought to me in 1902 and is in the museum. 146 156. Corn-Crake or Land-Rail. Crex pratensis, Bechstein. Locally, Daker-Hen. A summer migrant, generally distributed and breeding ; remaining sometimes throughout the winter. A nest containing nine eggs was found in July, 1883, in a field close to the main thoroughfare by Aylestone Mill and was purchased for the museum. Mr. W. J. Horn writing in 1907 states that this species is less common in the Market Harborough district than formerly. 157. Spotted Crake. Porzana maruetta (Leach). Sparingly distributed ; probably breeding. Mr. F. Bouskell has a specimen which he obtained at Knighton in July, 1883. Mr. C. H. Gadsby, of Loughborough, has two which were found on the Midland Railway half way between Barrow and Loughborough, near the river, having been killed by the telegraph wires in the early part of September, 1889. Mr. G. Frisby writes from Quorn: ' I saw one that had been shot in the autumn of 1906 in the meadows near the River Soar.' [Little Crake. Porzana farv a (Scopoli). Very rare, and the only record I have is that furnished by Harley, who states that one was shot near the town of Leicester in January, 1841, and was afterwards eaten.] 158. Water- Rail. Rallus aquaticus, Linn. Locally, Velvet Runner. Resident, but sparingly distributed, and from its skulking habits, is thought to be much rarer than it really is. Specimens have been received from Nar- borough, Lutterworth,Wymeswold, and near Leicester within the past few years. The late Dr. Macaulay informed me that Mr. Farnham shot one out of a turnip-field at Quorn on 7 Nov., 1889. The Rev. G. D. Armitage received a water-rail on 21 Nov., 1892, which had been killed by flying against the telegraph wires near Broughton Astley. It occurs now and then at the Leicester Sewage Farm, where Mr. G. Collins shot one in 1894, which he gave to the museum. Mr. O. Murray-Dixon writes from Swithland, under date 18 Nov., 1906. : 'A short time ago I had one that was taken from a cat.' Mr. W. J. Horn, writing in 1907, records the follow- ing: Several shot on the Welland in November, 1 900, by the Rev. C. J. Cartwright, of Weston-by- Welland; in November, 1900, several seen and one shot by himself near Ashley ; on 2 Dec., 1906, he saw one on a small brook near his house. 159. Moor-Hen. Gallinula chkropus (Linn.). Locally, Water-Hen. Resident and common ; breeding quite close to Leicester. Mr. G. Frisby writes that on 19 June, 1906, he found a nest containing thirteen eggs at Beaumanor Park. Mr. W. J. Horn writes in 1907: 'It breeds on the Folly Pond in Market Harborough.' 1 60. Coot. Fulica atra, Linn. Locally, Bald Coot. Resident, but unevenly distributed. Mr. Babing- ton (Potter, op. cit. App. p. 69) reports it from Groby Pool and Barret Pool. One was shot by Mr. J