48 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



addicted to the luxuriant clumps of travellers'-joy; 

 whilst the charming Blackcap, another migrant 

 from the south, may be heard repeatedly singing 

 with lusty voice, not only from the gardens and 

 shrubberies, but from the branches of the higher 

 trees. Three or four years ago Torquay was 

 honoured by a visit of the Melodious Warbler, 

 the Hypolais polyglotta of ornithologists. During 

 most of the summer the magnificent singer 

 took up J its residence, and doubtless nested, 

 in a sheltered valley between Upton and St. 

 Marychurch, where nightly it poured forth such 

 an unrivalled song that hundreds of people were 

 drawn to the spot, and the bird was universally 

 regarded by the press and the public as a 

 Nightingale. But the songs of the two species 

 are in reality very different, the constant repetition 

 in that of the Warbler resembling in this respect 

 the notes of the Song Thrush being one of 

 the special points of distinction. The bird 

 also repeatedly sang from the tops of trees, 

 commencing its music shortly after dusk and 

 continuing at intervals until just before dawn. 

 This species has also recently been detected in 

 Sussex, where it appears even to have bred. 



