38 Petch : Notes on Holderness Birds. 



song almost an exact repetition of the ' que j'ai tant, tant, tant, 

 tant, battue ' of the Nig'hting'ale. This bird has been recorded 

 for Patrington in numbers which could only be paralleled in 

 a southern Nighting-ale county, but confirmation is wanting. 

 Nightingale recorders should remember two facts, and observe 

 accordingly : the bird does not sing only, or chiefly, at night ; 

 it is more often heard during the day, and may then be seen ; 

 its red tail is unmistakable. 



The Whinchat is observed in large numbers on migration at 

 Aldborougli, especially in September, and may be found nesting 

 on drain banks and along the railway, sometimes within six feet 

 of the line. The status of the Stonechat is questionable : it may 

 be seen at Aldborough at any time except during the breeding 

 season, but is never common. Usually, a pair arrives on the 

 cliffs in August and remains through the winter. Another non- 

 breeding" visitor is the Wheatear, which is abundant in the 

 Humber district and along the coast in April-May and August- 

 September. I saw a single bird on Spurn, 17th June 1899, but, 

 judging from its behaviour, it had no nest. Mr. J. A. Fisher, 

 however, reports a young bird, scarcely able to fly, at Crossmere 

 Hill, July 1900. The case of the Redstart is similar : it passes 

 Aldborough northward in April and May and returns in Sep- 

 tember, but it bred at Hedon in 1888. The Pied Flycatcher is 

 another May and September migrant at Aldborough, often over- 

 looked, for the majority seem to be hen birds. I have only seen 

 one cock, which remained several days in May 1899, delayed by 

 the cold weather ; when sitting huddled up on the wire fence 

 it might have been mistaken for a House Martin. The Spotted 

 Flycatcher (summer visitor) nests throughout the district, and 

 seems to have developed a preference for ivy-covered trees : it 

 is often common in August on the hedge on the guard bank at 

 Saltend. 



The Yellow Wagtail is very common on the Humber lands 

 in April and September, and a few remain to breed there. Two 

 nests were found in the straw sides of lambing pens on Cherry 

 Cob Sands in 1899, but it usually prefers to build under the 

 shelter of a thistle, or in the middle of a cornfield. The Grey 

 Wagtail is a somewhat irregular autumn migrant at Hedon, 

 and the Pied Wagtail is migrant at Aldborough, returning 

 about ist March. Similarly the Corn Bunting — 'Tit Lark' — is 

 migrant throug'hout Holderness, and the resident Reed Bunting 

 — -'Blackcap' — receives considerable additions to its numbers in 

 the summer. In Holderness this bird builds in the lower branches 



