4 THE WARBLERS 



of England, such as the home counties, it is scarce in Devon and absent from 

 Cornwall, while it is only a rare straggler to the western side of Wales and becomes 

 decidedly scarce in the northern counties of England, though it has bred occasion- 

 ally in Durham and Northumberland. Reliable records of nesting from Scotland 

 beyond the border counties are few indeed and need further confirmation, while as 

 a breeding species it is unknown in Ireland. Outside its breeding range the species 

 occurs in Algeria occasionally on passage, but the great majority make their way 

 through Egypt up the Nile Valley and along the Red Sea to winter quarters in 

 Nubia and the Egyptian Soudan. [F. c. n. jr.] 



3. Migration. This species is a summer visitor to those portions of our islands 

 where it breeds. As its principal wintering quarters are in North-east Africa, 

 it arrives in this country, as might be expected, from the south-east, and is usually 

 first noticed in Kent or one of the home counties during the latter half of April, 

 but the main arrival takes place during the first week in May. The return journey 

 is undertaken during August and the first half of September, though solitary in- 

 dividuals have been recorded from Scotland as late as the 10th October. (Ann. 

 Scot. N. H., 1908, p. 134.) It has been recorded as occurring in Fair Isle as early 

 as April 23, and as late as October. (Ann. Scot. N. H., 1910, p. 193.) [j. L. B.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Built in thick hedges, bushes, etc., at no great height. 

 Compared with that of the whitethroat it is flat and slight, built of dry stalks and 

 grasses and lined with roots and grasses, occasionally also with hair. (PI. xvm.) 

 Both sexes take part in nest-building. (E. L. T.) Eggs, usually 5-6, sometimes only 

 4, very different from those of its allies. They are elongated in shape in many cases, 

 white or creamy and blotched or spotted towards the big end with a roughly defined 

 zone or cap of brown and grey markings. (PI. C.) Average size of 100 eggs, 

 65 x -49 in. [16-5 x 12-4 mm.]. The breeding season begins early in May, but more 

 generally after the middle of the month. Incubation lasts about 11-12 days and 

 is chiefly performed by the hen, but the cock has been seen to share in the task 

 (B. L. T.), and does so, according to Naumann, for a short time in the afternoon. 

 Apparently only one brood is reared. [F. c. K. J.] 



5. Food. Insects and their larvse. In the autumn soft berries and fruits. 

 The food supplied to young, by both parents, consists entirely of insects and their 

 larvae. [E. L. T.] 



6. Song Period. From its arrival till the middle and sometimes the end of 

 July. It has been occasionally heard up to the later part of August by C. and 

 H. Alexander (British Birds, i. 371). [E. L. T.] 



