Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 8 of 9.djvu/13

 very plentiful. In Norway and Sweden it occurs generally as far as 68° N. lat. in Sweden and 70° in Norway, but above this rarely. Throughout Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy it is numerous, and occurs in small numbers in northern Italy, but is absent from the south. In the Balkan Peninsula it breeds in Montenegro, Herzegovina, Epirus and Dobrudscha, but Greece is visited only on migration, though it has been said to breed in Palestine. To Poland, the Baltic Provinces, and central and southern Russia as far as the province of Ufa we find it a common summer visitor, but less numerous in the province of Orenburg. Northward it is found as far as southern Finland, the Olonetz Government, Archangel, and lat. 62° in the Urals, and on migration has been recorded in the Kirghiz Steppes, Astrakhan, and the Crimea. Eastwards it has been recorded at Krasnoyarsk on the River Yenisei, whilst to the south it has been found on the northern side of the Caucasus and in Trans-Caucasia. There are records also from Persia, and it occurs as a breeding species in Tunis, Algeria and Morocco.

It winters for the most part in central and southern Africa as far as Natal and Damara Land.

The Garden Warbler seldom reaches this country before the latter half of April, and it is therefore some weeks later than the Blackcap. In the northern districts of Worcestershire its advent is usually delayed until the first week in May, although in some years a few individuals can be found during the last week in April. Comparing one year with another, there seems to be less variation in the date of arrival of the first male than is customary amongst certain other migrants. For instance, during the last eleven years my records show that the first male reached this particular district once on April 28th and 30th respectively, twice on May 1st, once on May 3rd, four times on May 4th, once on May 6th and once on May 10th. The period of arrival