A HISTORY OF KENT 



The specimens on record have all been ob- 

 tained in the winter and after stormy weather. 

 The first individual, a female, was shot in an 

 apple tree in December i860 at Rainham, 

 by Mr. Walter Prentis. Another specimen 

 was obtained at Whitfield near Dover in 

 1884; while the last two records are from 

 the neighbourhood of Lydd. On 10 October 

 1896, after several days of stormy weather 

 with strong south-easterly winds, a male bird 

 was shot by Mr. Brann of Broomhill farm 

 near Rye, in an apple tree outside his house. 

 The bird was in company with several of the 

 common species. It was sent to me for 

 identification and preserved by Mr. Springett 

 ofCranbrook. The second specimen, another 

 male, was shot in the same tree in 1897, and 

 curiously enough on the same date, 10 Octo- 

 ber. Both of the specimens are now in my 

 collection. 



22. ChiiFchaff. Phylloscopm rufus (Bechstein) 

 Locally Oven-builder. 



A common spring migrant. My diary for 

 several years records its appearance between 

 24 and 28 March, when its well known note 

 has been very hoarse and hardly audible. 



23. Willow-Warbler. Phylloscopus trochilus 



(Linn.) 

 Locally, Yellow Wren. 

 A common summer migrant coming in the 

 first week of April, and from that period on- 

 ward this bird arrives in parties at well marked 

 intervals, a wood that was silent before be- 

 coming suddenly filled with their voices. As 

 soon as the buds of the apple trees show 

 signs of bursting, the bird is often to be 

 heard in orchards, where it seeks after and 

 feeds upon the destructive apple aphis {Aph'n 

 mali). The food of this little warbler con- 

 sists to a great extent of these injurious in- 

 sects, and for this reason gardeners should 

 encourage the bird in their gardens, where, 

 in August especially, it may be noticed attack- 

 ing the broods of aphis on the rose bushes. I 

 have found the willow-warbler nesting in 

 colonies, discovering as many as five nests in 

 one copse. From the shape of their nests 

 both the willow-warbler and chifFchafF are 

 locally known as ' oven birds.' 



24. Wood-Warbler. Phyttoscopus sibilatrix 



(Bechstein) 



Locally, Yellovif Willow- Wren. 



The wood-warbler is of local distribution 



in the county and arrives about the middle of 



April. In some districts however it is the 



most numerous of the three yellow warblers. 



I first observed this species in the Cranbrook 

 district in the summer of i8g6. A few pairs 

 now come annually to certain spots in the 

 Angley and Bedgebury woods, in which are 

 to be found tall firs and beeches, trees of 

 which the wood-warbler seems very fond. 

 At Eastwell near Ashford the wood-warbler 

 is locally distributed, while it does not appear 

 to be found in the Canterbury district (Oxen- 

 den Hammond). In the woods about Dover 

 it breeds sparingly (Gray). In the Chatham 

 and Sittingbourne districts the bird is only 

 seen on passage in spring and autumn. 



25. Icterine Warbler. Hypokh icterina 



(Vieillot) 

 The rare icterine warbler has occurred 

 once in Kent ; the first example obtained in 

 England is now in the Dover Museum, 

 having been killed at Eythorne on 15 June 

 1848 by the late Charles Gordon. This 

 warbler is common on the continent, and it 

 is quite likely that it occurs more often in 

 England than is supposed, since, owing to the 

 thick foliage, it probably escapes detection, 

 while to an ordinary observer the bird would 

 pass as a wood-warbler. However, its stouter 

 build, yellower under-parts and the lack of 

 yellowish-green on the upper parts, serve 

 principally to distinguish it from the latter 

 species. 



26. Reed - Warbler. Acrocephalus streperus 



(Vieillot) 

 This warbler arrives in Kent in the latter 

 part of April and is still plentiful in suitable 

 localities, especially in the Wingham and 

 Romney marshland and in the vicinity of the 

 river Rother, but there is not a doubt that 

 its numbers have of late years decreased, 

 owing to the drainage of our reed beds and 

 marshy places. Further, this drainage and 

 the prolonged droughts of the last three sea- 

 sons have afforded to the farmers an easier 

 access to these reed beds, which they now 

 systematically cut over, using the reeds as 

 thatching material for their stacks. 



[No identified example of the marsh- 

 warbler {Acrocephalus palustris, Bechstein) is 

 known to have occurred in the county, but 

 the species may easily have been overlooked, 

 owing to its similarity to the reed-warbler, 

 from which it chiefly differs in having the 

 upper parts washed with a distinct greenish 

 olive-brown instead of rufous. Especially 

 is this noticeable in the feathers of the 

 rump. I have carefully examined a reputed 

 specimen of this bird in the fine collection of 

 Mr. Walter Prentis and mentioned by him 



274 



