DISTRIBUTION OF THE NIGHTINGALE. 7 



neighbourhood of Exeter (Stokewood) being the locality where 

 they are the next most numerous. To the west of the line 

 above-mentioned, the Nightingale has only occurred sporadi- 

 cally, the most westerly record being one from Horrabridge, 

 only a few miles east of the Tamar, which forms the Devonshire 

 and Cornwall boundary. 



To Mr. W. S. M. D'Urban, who has kindly revised the above 

 statement, we are indebted for some further interesting 

 information with regard to this bird's distribution. Contrary 

 to popular behef, it would appear that there is no evidence 

 of any real increase in its numbers, or in the area it occupies in 

 Devonshire, for wherever the bird is now known to breed, 

 inquiries seem to indicate that it has always been there. 

 With regard to its numbers, these have always varied greatly 

 from year to year, and any actual increase that has taken place 

 of late years is wholly accounted for by the protection now 

 afforded them, and the stopping of the " catching " that was 

 formerly very prevalent, particularly in the neighbourhood of 

 Exeter. Its numbers are never very great, and in some years 

 the birds are probably much less numerous than in others. 



With regard to the factors in its distribution, Mr. D'Urban 

 refers to an old idea, that the area occupied by it corresponded 

 with the distribution of the cowslip, but points out that 

 while this is roughly true, the cowslip is absent in the Nightin- 

 gale's chief haunt in the Teign valley. The chief factors 

 limiting its westward spread are no doubt the high land (un 

 suited to its habits) of Dartmoor and Exmoor, while its need 

 for shelter from the prevailing north-westerly winds, and its 

 liking for thick copses, practically limits its distribution to the 

 river- valleys and certain sheltered spots near the coast . 



Mr. D'Urban also suggests that the presence or absence of 

 the wood-ant {Formica rufa), on the pupae of which the young 

 are largely fed, and the abundance of whortle-berries, 

 particularly in the oak-copses of the Teign, also have some 

 bearing on the Nightingale's distribution in Devonshire. 



Dorsetshire. — Although the Nightingale is generally 

 distributed throughout Dorsetshire, Mr. W. Parkinson Curtis 

 points out to us that the distribution is by no means an even 

 one. I^arge areas occupied by the drift-gravel plateau, and 

 other similar formations, are characterized by large fir- woods 

 with, in some districts, copses of birch, poplar, oak, and some 

 elm. Here the Nightingale would appear to be quite scarce, 

 while in the chalk districts the woods abound with rich under- 

 growth, and Nightingales are numerous, and, in some years, 

 very abundant. While still common in suitable localities in 



