74 THE BIRDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 



which were as regular as the song of any other of our 

 warblers. 



The Reed Warbler (S. arundinacea) I have not met 

 with nearer than Nottingham, where it is tolerably 

 abundant in the reed beds on the banks of the 

 Trent. 



I think there are none of our warblers that are so 

 truly local as that queen of them all, the Nightingale 

 (S. luscinia), although it is mysterious how exactly the 

 line of demarcation is drawn between one district and 

 another, where no apparent difference exists which can 

 account for their frequency in the one and their absence 

 in the other. It is a regular visitor in some of our 

 woods, though not by any means numerous. Ollerton- 

 corner Wood is the most favourite spot. There I have 

 heard it make the forest echo with its melody, and on 

 still evenings even as far as my own house, a distance 

 of half a mile. One summer a large poplar in the 

 garden of a farmhouse in the village was the constant 

 resort of a male bird in the evening. His station was 

 usually near the top, and here for an hour or two at a 

 time would he pour forth his song, taking no heed of 

 the passers-by, who continually stopped to listen. I was 

 not able to ascertain whether his mate had her nest in 

 the vicinity, for I never saw her ; but she most probably 

 had. 



Their arrival in the forest is generally during the first 

 week in May, the second of that month being the earliest 

 day on which I have heard their song. I have seen a 

 male and female on the 7th of May busily searching an 

 anthill in one of the grassy rides bordering the wood I 

 have named above. Their motions were quick and full 

 of vigour, but on perceiving me they flew up into one of 



