115 



THE TREE-PIPIT. 



Antlivs frirudis (L.). 



During the first fortnio-ht of A})ril a few strao-o-lors of this 

 species were observed in some of the southern and western 

 counties, but no definite immigration could be traced. 



The jirst marked imraigTation was observed at the Hants 

 lights on the 15th and 16th, and from that date the species 

 gradually spread over most of the country. It wns noted 

 from Suffolk and Norfolk for the first time on the 17th, and 

 in increasing numbers in Yorkshire on the ISth, while by 

 the 19th it had pushed into the extreme west (Glamorgan, 

 Cardigan and Merioneth). On the 20th a further increase 

 was noted in Yorkshire, and on the following day many more 

 birds arrived and some were also recorded in Cumberland. 

 On the 22nd, 23rd and 24th Tree-Pipits gradually became 

 more abundant in the south-eastern counties, and on the 

 latter day there was an increase in the west (Radnor anil 

 Merioneth). 



The usual breeding-stock of Tree-Pipits seems to have 

 arrived in Hants by the 2Gth o£ April, and in most of 

 the counties some birds had settled down by the first week 

 in May. There was, however, some evidence to prove that 

 small migratory movements were still going on, chiefly in the 

 w^est, for in many counties the increase continued until 

 about the 8th of May. 



Between the lOth and 15th the species continued to arrive 



almost without cessation along the south coast, from the Isle 



oi" Wight to Kent, and there is some slight evidence to show 



that this immigration passed on to more northerly parts. 



Nesting was first reported from Hants on May the 8th, 



