Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/526

492 formed a conspicuous white spot on the stretch of moorland it inhabited. It was probably a partly white variety, but it was wild, and I could not get very close to it.

Lleyn is thickly populated by small farmers, whose white houses are scattered all over the country, most of which is cut up into small fields. Inland we find hedges of blackthorn and hawthorn, hazel, rose, and honeysuckle; but these are less frequent as we go west, and west of the Rhiw hills, as well as in other exposed parts of this windy country, the high stone and turf banks which enclose the fields are topped with little more than low gorse and bracken. Gorse, indeed—wide stretches of it—is a great feature of Lleyn. The grounds of the country houses are well planted, and there are many small woods and belts of plantation; so that, although the country is not an ideal one for Warblers, there would be (except in the far west) sufficient accommodation for them. The Robin is very common, but I did not see a Redstart. The true Warblers, with one exception, are remarkable for their scarcity or absence. The Whitethroat alone is common. I never identified either the Blackcap, Garden Warbler, or Lesser Whitethroat; but Mr. Coward observed a pair of the last named breeding at Abersoch in May, 1893. This noisy bird, with which I am very familiar, must, however, be very rare. Once I thought I heard the alarm-note of the Blackcap; but, if it is present, it must be scarce. In the course of an afternoon's walk at Dolgelly, on my way home, I heard two in song; so that I do not think it would have been silent in Lleyn during the time I was there, although the period of song of birds does vary in different districts in Great Britain. The Wood-Wren could be heard in several localities in oak and mixed wood, at Carn Bodfean, Bodegroes, Llanbedrog, &c. The Chiffchaff I noticed in five localities, but neither this bird nor the Willow-Wren could be called abundant, although the latter was common, and sang at all times in the day right through the latter half of June (and at Dolgelly on July 3rd). The Sedge-Warbler is common about the bogs and wetter marshes, and Mr. Coward has noted the Grasshopper-Warbler in two years at Llanbedrog. I did not consider the Hedge-Sparrow normally common, but this bird, like some others, is more in evidence earlier in the year. This remark applies especially to Tits, of which I only observed