THE LESSER WHITETHROAT 
SYLVIA CURRUCA 
LocaL names in surrounding counties : 
Status 1N British Avirauna: A local summer visitor ; 
rarer in the extreme west, and in Scotland; of only 
abnormal occurrence in Ireland. 
RapiaL DisTrRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 
Paut’s : In the Metropolitan area, as almost everywhere 
else, the Lesser Whitethroat is less common and more 
local than the preceding species. It is a bird, however, 
that is often overlooked, and may;justly be classed as a 
regular summer visitor to many places within the limits 
of London’s suburbs. During the seasons of migration, 
in autumn especially, this little species frequently visits 
small gardens within the six-mile radius, and I have 
records from Kensington Gardens. In the autumn of 
1904 I noticed a Lesser Whitethroat among some rows of 
peas (the only cover the wretched apology for a garden 
contained) for several days in succession, whilst I have 
frequently observed it in allotment gardens not very far 
from the City. To the more central suburbs it is 
certainly a regular summer visitor, breeding at Dulwich, 
whilst it is by no means rare in the Willesden, Wembley, 
and Hendon districts. I have also summer records of it 
from the Ealing, Acton, Kew, and Gunnersbury areas ; 
whilst, of course, further afield it becomes commoner, 
round Wimbledon, Richmond, Osterley, Southall, King- 
ston, Merton, Ewell, Croydon, the Crays, Dartford, 
Ilford, Wanstead, Epping, Enfield, Barnet, and Harrow. 
Within the limits I have given and in the vicinity of 
all the places specified the Lesser Whitethroat may be met 
with during summer. It arrives near the end of April, 
and migrates south in September. With the important 
exception that the Lesser Whitethroat shows a greater 
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