160 BRITISH BIRDS. 



like a Reed- Warbler's song, and when at its best frequently 

 introduced a very clear and sweet phrase, unlike the song of 

 any other British warbler. 



I went again on the 26th, and Dr. C. B. Ticehurst on the 

 30th, but we neither of us came across it, so it presumably 

 did not stay to nest there. 



C. J. Alexander. 



NESTING OF AN APPARENTLY MATELESS 

 SEDGE-WARBLER. 



On June 6th, on a small piece of swampy ground at Llandrillo, 

 Merioneth, I found a Sedge- Warbler's (Acrocephalus phragmitis) 

 nest with six eggs. On mentioning the fact to Mr. A. McL. 

 Marshall, on whose ground the nest was, he expressed great 

 surprise, as he had visited the spot nearly every day during 

 the previous five weeks, and had never heard a Sedge- Warbler 

 singing there. I, too, visited the spot nearly every day for a 

 fortnight, and never heard a bird sing, nor did I see more 

 than the one bird ; finally, I examined the eggs, and found them 

 unfertile after at least a week's incubation. The question 

 arises, did this bird ever have a" mate? If so, it may have 

 lost it on migration, or soon after it arrived, and failed to find 

 another. The Sedge -Warbler was certainly not a common 

 bird in the district, as during a fortnight's ramble I did not 

 come across another pair. Mr. Marshall tells me that a pair 

 nest in this same spot every year. It seems to me that the 

 probability is that the male bird never reached its breeding 

 haunt, or else was killed soon after its arrival and before 

 breeding commenced, otherwise the eggs, at any rate, would 

 have been fertile. 



C. B. Ticehurst. 



RED-BACKED SHRIKE RETURNING TO NEST IN 



THE SAME PLACE. 

 The bird referred to in my note (p. 116) was a Red-backed 

 Shrike, with an injured foot, which returned to the same bush 

 to nest for two years on Chipperfield Common ; the third year 

 the bird was there, but I was too early for the nest. 



M. Bedford. 



DEPARTURE OF HOUSE-MARTINS. 

 On August 9th, between six and seven o'clock p.m., an 

 assemblage of House-Martins {Chelidon urbica) — mostly young 

 birds — took place in the vicinity of my house at Stocksfield- 



