74 THE BIRDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 
which were as regular as the song of any other of our 
warblers. 
The Reed Warbler (S. arwndinacea) I have not met 
with nearer than Nottingham, where it is tolerably 
abundant in the reed beds on the banks of the 
Trent. 
I think there are none of our warblers that are so 
truly local as that queen of them all, the Nightingale 
(S. luseinia), although it is mysterious how exactly the 
line of demarcation is drawn between one district and 
another, where no apparent difference exists which can 
account for their frequency in the one and their absence 
in the other. It is a regular visitor in some of our 
woods, though not by any means numerous. Ollerton- 
corner Wood is the most favourite spot. There I have 
heard it make the forest echo with its melody, and on 
still evenings even as far as my own house, a distance 
of half a mile. One summer a large poplar in the 
garden of a farmhouse in the village was the constant 
resort of a male bird in the evening. His station was 
usually near the top, and here for an hour or two ata 
time would he pour forth his song, taking no heed of 
the passers-by, who continually stopped to listen. I was 
not able to ascertain whether his mate had her nest in 
the vicinity, for I never saw her; but she most probably 
had. 
Their arrival in the forest is generally during the first 
week in May, the second of that month being the earliest 
day on which I have heard their song. I have seen a 
male and female on the 7th of May busily searching an 
anthill in one of the grassy rides bordering the wood I 
have named above. Their motions were quick and full 
of vigour, but on perceiving me they flew up into one of 
