4b 



THE WHINCHAT. 



l*ratinrola ruhetra (L.)- 



The arrival o£ tliis species took place laier than usual in 

 1907, and the first reconl is that ot a single bird observed in 

 Dorset on the 5th of April. With the exception of a few 

 strago-lers, it was not until the first week in ]\lay that the; 

 Whinchat reached this country in numbers. 



The first real immigration began about the 5th of May, 

 when the species was recorded from Somerset, Wilts, Sur- 

 rey, Middlesex, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincoln, Cardigan 

 and Merioneth. On the 7th it was noted at the Hampshire 

 lights, while many had reached Yorkshire, and during the 

 next three or four days it gradually increased in numbers all 

 over the countiy except in the north-west. Attention may 

 here be drawn to the reeonl of a single bird which was 

 seen at sea some distance south-west of Scilly on the 

 12th. It was probably a straguler, as the species usually 

 arrives in this country on the eastern portion of the south 

 coast. 



Another immigration was note<l at the Hampshire and 

 Cornwall lights on the 15th of May, and a further immi- 

 gration took place in Hampshire and Kent on the 20th and 

 21st. Tiie records, however, do not enable us to trace these 

 movements any further. 



The first nest was reported from Radnor on the 19th of 

 May, and another nest with eggs was found in Derbyshire 

 on the 21st. 



