SYLVIINvE. 



75 



THE ICTERINE WARBLER. 



Hypolais icterina (Vieillot). 



Although common on the Continent, even within sight of 

 our shores, this member of a well-marked genus — not remotely 

 allied to the group of Reed-Warblers — is only a rare visitor to 

 England and Ireland. The first example was killed on June 15th 

 1848, at Eythorne, near Dover ; a second (now in the Dublin 

 Museum), on June 8th 1856, at Dunsinea on the banks of the 

 Tolka, CO. Dublin ; a third was shot by Mr. F. D. Power on 

 September nth 1884, near Blakeney, Norfolk; a fourth near New^- 

 castle-on-Tyne, June 20th 1889 ; a fifth at Easington, Holderness, 

 Yorkshire, on May 28th 1891 ; a sixth at Wells, Norfolk, September 

 4th, 1893 ; and a seventh at Cley, Norfolk, September 7th 1896. 

 Lastly, Mr. A. F. Ticehurst exhibited at the British Ornithologists' 

 Club, on May 19th 1897, a female which had been shot at Burwash, 

 Sussex, on April 30th. All these examples have been examined and 

 identified by competent authorities ; the significance of which will 

 be apparent hereafter. 



In Norway the Icterine Warbler breeds up to a little beyond the 

 Arctic circle, although in Sweden, Finland and Russia, its northern 

 range is less extensive. Eastward, the Ural and the valley of the 

 Tobol form its known limits, while further south it has been obtained 

 at Lenkoran, on the western side of the Caspian. In Asia Minor, 



