THE WOOD WARBLER 



PHTLLOSCOPUS SIBILA7RIX 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A local and somewhat 

 capricious summer visitor to all suitable districts in 

 England and Wales ; much rarer in Scotland, and only 

 found in a few places in Ireland. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : Of the Willow Warblers the present species is 

 decidedly the least common within the Metropolitan area. 

 It is everywhere local, and chiefly confined to the more out- 

 lying suburbs, where woods are plentiful. I have records 

 of the Wood Warbler from Richmond and Wimbledon ; 

 it is also said to frequent the vicinity of Dulwich. In 

 Middlesex, Bushey, Osterley, Wembley, Harrow, Pinner, 

 Ruislip, and Enfield may be mentioned as haunts. It 

 has also been recorded from the Hampstead district, and 

 has been observed in Highgate Woods. It is a very local 

 visitor to the Epping area, and may possibly be a regular 

 summer migrant to the vicinity of Wanstead. Of Kent I 

 possess little authentic information, but I have repeatedly 

 heard the sibilant song of the Wood Warbler in the area of 

 the Grays and near High Elms, as well as a little further 

 west, between Shirley and Croydon. During migration 

 this pretty Warbler occasionally pays fleeting visits to 

 gardens and private grounds much nearer to the city, 

 but as it is silent in autumn it is often overlooked 

 in the tops of tall trees, or mistaken for its smaller 

 congeners. 



There are fortunately many noble woodlands well 

 within the fifteen-mile radius which offer a congenial 

 summer retreat to the Wood Warbler the largest and 

 brightest coloured of the three little species known 

 collectively as Willow Warblers. The favourite haunt of 



