ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM:-A SOUTH LONDON SUBURB. 
CHIFF-CHAFF (Resident). 
This is a much scarcer bird than the last, since I never 
know of more than two, or at the most three pairs remaining 
to breed in the district. It 1s also much less often seen on the 
autumn passage, and then usually not until September, at which 
time the Willow Wren’s passage is almost over. Some years 
I have heard its song in a subdued form in October—once so 
late as the 8th. 
March 23rd, 24th, and 25th are the three earliest dates on 
which I have heard its note; usually it is not heard until the first 
week in April. For three consecutive seasons a pair nested in an 
ivy-covered bank in Dulwich Park; one year the song of the 
male continued vigorous until the Ist July, and another year 
up to the 13th of that month—an unusually late date. 
GRASSHOPPER WARBLER (Accidental). 
I have one record of this very unexpected species in this 
neighbourhood. On 30th July, 1894, I discovered one —a 
chance migrant among a number of plants in pots in front 
of my greenhouse ; it crept like a mouse between the pots, but 
I saw it clearly twice, and on one occasion had it almost in my 
hand. I have never heard the song anywhere nearer than 
Hayes Common. 
BLACKCAP (Resident). 
This, though not a plentiful species, appears in about the 
same numbers as 30 years ago. Up to 1894 it nested yearly 
in the old gardens towards Camberwell, but now breeds no 
nearer than Dulwich, in which district I can still recognise from 
4 to 6 pairs every year. 
The earliest note I have of its song is April oth. It con- 
tinues to sing, as a rule, well into July, with occasional staves 
up to the third week in August. The chief note of those ap- 
pearing in the autumn movement is a “chack,’ the subdued 
warble of the young males not being so frequent at that time 
as in the case of its cousin, the Garden Warbler. In 18go, 
however, I saw and heard one singing faintly at Tulse Hill on 
24th October. 
GARDEN WARBLER (Resident). 
Rarer than the preceding as a breeding species, but ob- 
served far more regularly and in greater numbers on its autumn 
migration through the suburban gardens. Every year its sud- 
dued warble may be heard, from the first week in August till 
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