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THE LESSER WHITETHROAT. 



Salvia curruca (L.). 



This bird appears to liave arrived along the whole of the 

 south coast, but chiefly ou the eastern half. 



The first arrivals reported were in Berkshire on the 8th of 

 April and in Cornwall on the 9th. Between the 13th and 

 the 19fch there seems to have been a stracrolino- ininiioration 

 of small numbers along the whole of the south coast and a 

 second small influx on the 21st and 22nd ; the effect of these 

 was to produce a thin and scattered distribution over the 

 greater part of the bird's range. A third and somewhat 

 larger immigration occurred on the 27th and 29th at both 

 the eastern and western extremities of the south coast, which 

 reinforced the numbers already present and filled up some of 

 the gaps in the distribution of the species. 



There seems to have been a fourth arrival in the west 

 during the first day or two of May, which augmented the 

 numbers both in the western counties and in south Wales. 

 After the 3rd the majority of the birds had evidently settled 

 down and nesting soon became general. 



Migration on the eastern side of the country, however, 

 continued actively up to the middle of the month, arrivals 

 taking place in Kent on the 4th, 6th and 10th, and in Hamp- 

 shire on the 7th. These birds seem to have been mainly 

 passage-migrants on their way to more northern breeding- 

 haunts. 



Nests with eggs were found in Surrey on the 4th of May, 

 in Shropshire on the 5th, in Kent on the 6th, and in Derby 

 and Yorkshire on the 13th and 15th. 



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