NOTES. 157 



hunger, it sometimes perches near the fire, where its sings 

 two or three times before departing. 



Augustine Rees. 



MARSH-WARBLER BREEDING IN 

 WORCESTERSHIRE. 

 Mr. W. Davies writes to us that while spending a holiday- 

 in Worcestershire he noticed on May 23rd a song which quite 

 puzzled him. He saw the singer, and watching it closely 

 came to the conclusion that it was a Marsh-Warbler 

 (Acrocephalus palustris). In subsequent walks in the neigh- 

 bourhood he met with several other birds with the same song ; 

 in fact he states that he considers the bird " quite common " in 

 this district. " They were distributed over an area of several 

 miles. I found them chiefly along hedgerows adjoining fields of 

 wheat and beans. There was in most cases a ditch along the 

 hedge, in some cases with water but in others dry, but in all 

 cases there was a luxuriant growth of coarse herbage." More- 

 over Mr. Davies affirms that he did not meet with a single 

 Reed- or Sedge -Warbler during his stay in the place. 



He did not himself discover a nest, but Mr. F. Coburn, 

 who spent a day or two in the neighbourhood, sends us the 

 following account of his experiences : — 



" It is with great pleasure that I am enabled this season to 

 add a new breeding bird to the list for the Midland Counties, 

 and that such a little-known species as the Marsh- Warbler 

 (Acrocephalus palustris). For obvious reasons I withhold the 

 name of the district where I found the birds breeding, further 

 than to state that it was in Worcestershire. 



" A friend — Mr. W. Davies — having described to me the song 

 of a bird he had heard in Worcestershire I decided to 

 investigate the matter, and on June 13th last, after much 

 searching, I found one pair of the birds breeding. 



" This being my first acquaintance with the Marsh- Warbler, 

 it was intensely interesting to listen to the song of a bird I 

 had never before heard. The spot where I found the birds 

 was a strange one for Marsh- Warblers, and would have been 

 unusual even for Sedge- Warblers. It was in an old orchard 

 by a much-frequented roadside, used also for grazing cattle 

 and as a fowl-run, and the only water for a considerable 

 distance away was a brook dividing two orchards. There 

 was no osier-bed, or anything approaching a marsh, for many 

 miles, indeed the whole district is under high cultivation. 



" I found the male bird singing in an old pear-tree, and lay 

 down outside the orchard for two hours listening to the song 

 and watching the birds. 



