56 



THE LESSER WHITETHROAT. 



Salvia curruca (L.). 



The early records of this species, all of which refer to single 

 individuals, are so widely scattered as to render it impossible 

 to say from whence the birds came. There was no evidence 

 of an immigration until April the 18th, when a few were 

 picked up at the Hampshire lights. The number arriving was 

 evidently small, as we find no striking increase anywhere, but 

 the birds seem to have scattered widely in a northerly direction, 

 reaching Somerset and Berks on the 20th, 21st, and 23rd ; 

 Nottingham on the 22nd ; Derby, Lincoln, and Oxford on 

 the 23rd ; and Durham and Yorkshire on the 26th and 29th. 



On the 29th a second immigration arrived on the south 

 coast, chiefly at the eastern end, and spread into Essex and 

 Cambridge on the following day, the more westerly individuals 

 passing through Wilts and Somerset into South Wales, 

 Shropshire, Worcester, and Cheshire. 



It was not, however, until the third immigration, which 

 was noticed at the Hampshire lights on May the 4th, that the 

 numbers of this species reached their usual summer level. 

 Immediately after this an increase was recorded throughout 

 the country, and it is clear that the stream gradually ad- 

 vanced northwards during the next ten days, expanding as 

 it went both in an easterly and a westerly direction. 

 Hertfordshire and Berkshire were reached on the 7th, Essex 

 and Somer.set on the 9th, Oxford on the 10th, Derby on the 

 11th, South Wales, Suffolk, and Norfolk on the 12th. After 

 that date this species was recorded as present in its usual 

 numbers throughout its normal area. On the 14th it had 

 begun to nest in Berkshire and Derbyshire, and by 



