A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



Inasmuch as it is most difficult to identify this that a nest of this bird had been obtained in 



small bird unless it is shot, I think that perhaps Hertfordshire. I can find no further informa- 



the observer may have mistaken the male of tion in corroboration of this statement, which 



the last species for this bird. therefore always remains open to doubt.] 



22. Chiffchaff. Phylloscopus rufus (Bechstein). 

 This is a bird which seems very irregularly 



distributed over the county, being common in 

 some districts, but quite scarce in others. It 

 arrives very often about March 2ist, although, 

 if the weather is very cold, it does not make 

 itself heard. It appears to stay well on into 

 September and even October, and its song 

 may be sometimes heard at that time of the 

 year. 



23. Willow-Warbler. Phylloscopus trochilus 



(Linn.). 



This is a very common summer visitor to 

 all parts of the county, arriving early in April 

 and remaining till September. This species 

 may also be heard singing late in the year. 



24. Wood - Warbler. Phylloscopus sibilatrix 



(Bechstein). 



This is rather a local species in the county, 

 but on the western side it is certainly plentiful. 

 It has however a curious way of frequenting 

 a wood one summer and being entirely absent 

 from it the next. It is probable that it is 

 commoner in Hertfordshire than is actually 

 known at present, as it is a species that many 

 persons are unacquainted with, no doubt on 

 account of its habit of singing at the tops of 

 the trees in the woods it frequents. On the 

 other side of the county Mr. H. S. Rivers has 

 identified it at Sawbridgeworth. Its usual 

 time of arrival is about the end of April or 

 beginning of May. 



25. Reed -Warbler. Acrocephalus streperus 



(Vieillot). 



This bird is rather local in Hertfordshire on 

 account of the scarcity of suitable localities for 

 it. It is however found in numbers at the 

 Tring reservoirs. The reed-warbler usually 

 arrives about April 2Oth. 



26. Marsh-Warbler. Acrocephalus palustris 



(Bechstein). 



A specimen of this bird is said to have been 

 shot on one of the Tring reservoirs in August, 

 1883. 



[Great Reed-Warbler. Acrocephalus tur- 

 do'ides (Meyer). 



The record of this fine species in Hertford- 

 shire is in my opinion due to some mistake. 

 It rests upon the authority of Mr. More, who 

 in his paper on the ' Distribution of British 

 Birds,' which appeared in the Ibis for 1865, 

 mentioned that the late Mr. F. Bond stated 



27. Sedge- Warbler. Acrocephalus phragmitis 



(Bechstein). 



The sedge-warbler is found in many parts 

 of the county chiefly in the neighbourhood of 

 water, though not always so. It generally 

 arrives about the middle of April. 



28. Grasshopper- Warbler. Locust ella neevia 



(Boddaert). 



The grasshopper-lark, as it is sometimes 

 called, is to be found on many of our commons 

 in some numbers ; in fact at Berkhamsted it 

 can be considered plentiful. This bird when 

 it first arrives is quite bold, sitting on the top 

 of some bush and reeling out its curious song ; 

 but it soon becomes much more shy. Its 

 usual time for arrival is about the last week 

 in April. 



29. Hedge-Sparrow. 



The hedge-sparrow is a common resident 

 throughout the county. Mr. William Hill, 

 jun., of Hitchin, in 1881 found a nest of this 

 species containing eggs on January ist. I 

 do not think that this bird is very subject 

 to variation in colour, but Mr. Spary of St. 

 Albans informs me that he has one of a 

 cinnamon colour, which was shot near that 

 city in 1896. 



30. Dipper. Cinclus aquaticus, Bechstein. 

 Hertfordshire does not unfortunately possess 



such streams as the dipper loves, but it has on 

 two or three occasions condescended to visit 

 us. In the Zoologist for 1849 Mr. Lucas 

 mentions a dipper that was shot at Westmill 

 on the river Orton near Hitchin in the winter 

 of 1848. It was obtained in the mill-tail, 

 and appeared to be a young male in good 

 plumage. The late Mr. Littleboy also men- 

 tioned having seen this bird on two occasions 

 about 1874 at Hunton Bridge. 



31. Bearded Reedling. Panurus biarmicus 



(Linn.). 



This beautiful bird has been recorded on 

 three occasions in Hertfordshire. The first 

 instance was mentioned by the Rev. James 

 Williams in the Zoologist for 1849, where he 

 stated that a pair of these birds, male and 

 female, had been shot at the Tring reservoirs 

 on December 2ist, 1848. He only observed 

 two at the time, which flew out of an alder 

 bush into the reeds. A little earlier in the 

 same year Mr. William Lucas of Hitchin saw 

 a small flock of these birds on the banks of 



I 9 8 



