The Little Bittern (Ardea minuta), iv., 205.
A very shy and sulky little bird, sitting all of a heap, and looking like a bit of brown stump.
The Common Bittern (Botaurus stellaris), iv., 204.
The Great or Solitary Snipe (Scolopax major), iv., 226.
Has been seen at Urmston.
The Nightingale (Sylvia Luscinia), iii., 147.
The visit of the nightingales to our neighbourhood will long be remembered by those who heard their song. It took place in 1863. The first came to Wilmslow early in May, establishing itself in the little grove near the end of Bollin Hall Park, on the Manchester side of the railway viaduct. For several weeks it sang nightly, and the crowds of people who were attracted by the fame of the bird from distances of many miles, at last became quite a trouble to that usually quiet neighbourhood. The second took up its lodging in a grove close to the Strines Printworks, where, says Mr. Joel Wainwright,[31] no greater sensation was ever caused by a little thing. It began at ten every night, and continued almost uninterruptedly until three a.m. A third is said to have visited a plantation adjacent to the railway station at Sale, but over this one there may possibly have been an error.
The Snow Bunting (Emberiza nivalis), ii., 95.
Occasionally visits us in severe winters, breeding in Norway and Sweden.
The Mountain Finch, or Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla), ii., 103.