Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/157

Rh specimen of the Whitethroat (Sylvia cinerea). The day was warm and beautiful, and the bird busily engaged catching insects in a hedgerow near the water. Nov. 14th is, I think, the latest date on record for the appearance of the Whitethroat in Great Britain. The second instance is that of the Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus rufus), which has broken all previous records by appearing at Castle Bromwich this year on the 16th February. Mr. Ernest C. Tye was shooting Lapwings on that date, when he thought he heard the well-known note of the Chiffchaff, but uttered in a low key, and caught sight of a little bird skulking about a bush. Scarcely believing that it could be the Chiffchaff he heard, at such an extraordinarily early period of the year, he brought it down, but with a full charge of No. 6 shot (the smallest shot he had with him), from a 12-bore, with the result that the little bird was terribly mangled. Mr. Tye brought to me this little mass of blood and feathers as proof of his correct identification, and, although it looked like a hopeless case, I determined to save the skin of this recordbreaker, and, by dint of much patience, I have made a good specimen of it. I consider the middle of March a very early date for the appearance of this bird in my district; but I have one previous record for the extreme end of February, when I saw a little bird skulking about the lower part of a hedgerow, but in such a manner that I could not get a sufficiently clear view to be absolutely positive whether the bird was Chiffchaff or Willow Warbler; and, as it remained silent, I had to trust to eyes instead of the more satisfactory ears. However, there need be little doubt that it was a Chiffchaff. That February was followed by a beautiful spring, and a hot, dry summer. All the spring migrants came early, and there was a good breeding season. I did not intend to go past these two instances, but I am tempted to add that on the 12th February last I saw Stonechats (Pratincola rubecula) at Earlswood. These birds cross this portion of the midlands towards their breeding haunts; and this again is the earliest date by far on which I have seen them here. This, in conjunction with the appearance of the Chiffchaff a few days later, led me to think that an extraordinarily early migratory movement was afloat; and on the 19th February I had a long ramble—I was walking for eight hours—hoping to get a glimpse of other migrants; but in this I was disappointed. However, I was rewarded with the grandest and most varied chorus of bird-song I can recall to memory for such an early period of the year. The following birds were in full and rich song:—Mistle- and Song-Thrushes, Blackbirds, Hedge-Accentors, Wrens, Starlings, Chaffinches, Reed Buntings, Yellowhammers, and Sky-Larks. Great, Blue, Coal, and Marsh Tits were all giving their low calls; while the Long-tailed Tits were paired. A flock of Lesser Black-backed Gulls passed overhead; Woodpeckers were preparing their nesting-holes; Kingfishers darted across my path, and sped before me in