90 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



only occasionally found ; it is fairly common near Staveley, 

 and nests sparingly near Harrogate and Ripon. In June 

 1880, it was . found particularly abundant at a place just 

 outside the City boundary of Leeds, no less than seven nests 

 containing eggs being discovered (W. Eagle Clarke, Zool. 1880, 

 p. 444). Dr. Steward of Harrogate tells me (1904) that 

 this place is now protected, and the bird still nests there. 



In the East Riding it is perhaps more numerous than 

 elsewhere in the county, the presence of its favourite reed-beds 

 conducing to its protection ; at Pocklington it is common 

 and breeds annually ; near Hull it was formerly plentiful 

 as a nesting species (op. cit. 1861, p. 7643-4), and it is found 

 there where the conditions are suitable ; at Hornsea Mere 

 it is numerous ; in the Beverley district it has been met with, 

 breeding in gardens, the nest being placed in lilac bushes 

 and snowberry, and also in some numbers in the osier-beds 

 in the Drimeld trout-streams and in the reeds bordering 

 on the River Hull ; the nest is also reported from Scampston, 

 Knapton, and near Bridlington, though only rarely. In 

 the North Riding it was fairly abundant at Castle Howard, 

 but has greatly decreased there of late years, and it 

 occasionally occurs at Malton ; it was formerly frequent 

 on the Mere at Scarborough before the place was drained ; 

 now it is seldom found there, and the same remark may be 

 applied to the north part of the county, though it is noted 

 as nesting near Whitby and Grinkle. In Cleveland I have 

 for some years been aware of its existence as a nesting species 

 at a locality a few miles distant from Redcar, where it breeds 

 annually, and I have an egg taken there in 1896 by Mr. 

 C. Milburn of Middlesbrough ; it is scarce near Bedale, and 

 has once been reported from Carperby in Wensleydale. 



Though the Reed Warbler is occasionally noticed on 

 migration it is not mentioned in the Reports from the light 

 stations excepting in the year 1881, when two were killed 

 by striking against the Spurn lantern on the 29th May, at 

 ii p.m., and on the 2oth August in the same year three old 

 males were killed. (Fourth Report, p. 33.) 



In its nidification the bird sometimes departs from its 



