WOOD WARBLER. 87 



" A little yellowish bird without name, called by 

 Aldrovandus, Regulus non cristatus, perchance the Asilus 

 of Ballonius, or the Luteola of Turner." 



" This is equal to, or somewhat bigger than, the Crested 

 Wren, ... It sings like a grasshopper and doth much frequent 

 willow trees. Mr. Jessop sent us a bird [presumably from 

 Sheffield] in all points exactly like that here described, and 

 whose note resembled the noise of a grasshopper, but twice 

 as big." (Will. " Orn." 1676, p. 228.) See also Montagu's 

 " Ornithological Dictionary." 



Thomas Allis, in 1844, wrote : — 



Sylvia sibillatrix. — Wood Warbler — Not infrequent in most districts. 



In the south of the county this little warbler generally 

 arrives about the third or fourth week in April, the average 

 date being the 30th ; though in Cleveland, the north and 

 north-west portions of the shire, it is not noted until the 

 first week in May. Exceptionally early instances are 8th 

 April 1879, 3.t Barnsley, and in 1880 Mr. W. Eagle Clarke 

 heard its note at Spurn on the 9th. As it is often silent on 

 first arrival it may well be that its presence is not remarked 

 for a few days : it first utters its single note " twee," and 

 afterwards greets us with its cricket-like shivering trill. 



It departs on its southward journey in August. 



It is somewhat local in its distribution, but its presence 

 may be expected in those districts where there are woods 

 and copses suited to its requirements. In many localities 

 it affects old woods and forest trees, one of its favourite 

 haunts being Rudding Park ; it is rather scarce in Lower 

 Wharfedale, though fairly common in most of the sheltered 

 valleys, in the woods on the fell sides, and up to the edge 

 of the moors ; in Nidderdale it is met with to an elevation 

 of 1000 feet, and in the woods about Sedbergh, Bowland, 

 and Malham ; at the latter place as high as 1350 feet elevation. 



In the East Riding it is common in a few places, but 

 always local ; it comes annually to certain woods of a dry 

 peaty or sandy nature where the common bracken flourishes. 



The only entry in the Migration Reports in connection 

 with its autumn movements is one in 1885, p. 42, when it 



