The Birds of Pembrokeshire. 9 
have visited in the summer on purpose to search for it, In the 
south of the county Mr. Tracy considered it scarce: “Although 
I can mostly procure a few specimens the latter end of April or 
the first week in May, I think they do not stay here to breed, 
for I have never found them later; and being so well acquainted 
with the voices of the other Warblers, the peculiar twitter of the 
Wood Warbler could not have escaped me.” Mr. Dix has a 
very different account to give from his post on the Cardiganshire 
borders. Writing of this species, he says : ‘‘ More generally dis- 
tributed, and I think also more numerous, than in most parts of 
England. One is almost sure to meet with this bird in a planta- 
tion of beech and oak. It certainly prefers the beech to any 
other tree; I have invariably found them upon or near this tree 
when there are any in the plantation.” 
MELODIOUS WARBLER, Ayfolais polyglotta.—Such, as we are 
informed by Mr. Howard Saunders, is the correct name of a 
delightful little songster that visited us at Stone Hall in the 
summer of 1886. It is the Western form of the Icterine 
Warbler, and is something like a Chiff-Chaff, differing, however, 
from that bird in having the under parts of a bright sulphur 
yellow. For so smalla bird it possesses a very powerful and 
exquisite song, rich in clear, thrush-like notes. It took up its 
station day after day in an ash tree by the side of a lane adjoin- 
ing our house, and there warbled so sweetly that people who had 
once heard it used to return again and again to listen. We 
watched it one day as it was dancing up and down the branch it 
was upon, fluttering its wings as we have also seen the Wood 
Warbler do while pouring forth its song, and singing as if ina 
very transport of joy. We have been asked ‘‘ Why did you not 
shoot this bird so as to be sure as to your identification?” but who 
could have had the heart to butcher so sweet a minstrel ? On 
the other side of the tree which the bird frequented was a dense 
woodcock cover, through which a small stream runs among a 
thicket of willows and furze. Here we searched repeatedly for 
the nest, feeling sure our little friend must have had a com- 
panion, but so thick was the cover we failed to find it, and we 
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