6] 



THE LESSER WHITETHROAT. 



Sylvia curruea (L.). 



The Lesser Whitethroat arrived along the south coast 

 as far west as Devonshire, but chiefly on the eastern 

 half. The first birds were recorded from Hampshire and 

 Dorsetshire on the 8th and 10th of April, and these were 

 followed by a few more between the 14th and 17th and by 

 larger numbers about the 20th. All these birds appear to 

 have landed between Hampshire and Devonshire and to have 

 travelled through the western counties as far north as 

 Cheshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire and the south of Yorkshire. 



The second immigration arrived to the east of Hampshire 

 on the 22nd and 23rd of April and spread over the south- 

 eastern counties as far north as Cambridgeshire. The third 

 immigration landed along the whole of the south coast on 

 the 25th and 27th, and its advent seems to have filled up a 

 good many areas in the bird's distribution, especially to the 

 north on the eastern side of the country, Lincolnshire being 

 reached on the 28th of April and Yorkshire and North- 

 umberland on the 1st of May. The northward progress 

 of some of these migrants was perhaps also shown by a 

 record from a Suffolk light on the night of the 30th of 

 April. 



The fourth immigration landed on the whole south coast 

 on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of May. A record from a Suffolk 

 light on the night of the 3rd probably indicated a northward 

 coastal migration of some of these arrivals, but beyond one 

 or two records of increased numbers in Wales and some of 

 the western counties, there was very little evidence of 

 their progress. 



