73 



THE GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER. 



Locustella ncevia (Bodd.). 



Owing to the scanty nature of the records it was very diffi- 

 cult to ascertain definitely on what portion of the coast this 

 species arrived or to trace its movements inland, but it 

 appears to have landed in greatest numbers, i£ not entirely, 

 to the west of Sussex. 



Its advent was first recorded in Surrey on the 11th of 

 April. From that date reports of stragglers were received 

 from various counties in England and Wales, as far north as 

 Shropshire and Northamptonshire, until the 23rd. On the 

 nights of the 24th and 27th Grasshopper-Warblers occurred 

 at St. Catherine's and the Caskets lights respectively. On 

 the 28th an increase was noted in Yorkshire, and two days 

 ]ater in Cambridgeshire, while reports from other localities 

 and an extension of range into Cumberland and Scotland 

 indicated rather indefinitely the progress of these migrants 

 through the country. The records from lights off the Car- 

 narvonshire and Yorkshire coasts, both at this period and 

 later, probably indicated a passage along the west and east 

 coasts to breeding-grounds farther north. Grasshopper- 

 Warblers again occurred at the Caskets light on the nights 

 of the 5th and 7th of May, and though from one or two 

 records migration through the country seems to have con- 

 tinued, there was little 'evidence to show when and where any 

 of these birds reached our shores. The usual numbers were 

 reported from Worcestershire on the 12th of May, a nest 

 with eggs was found in Glamorganshire on the 21st, and a 

 pair were building in Surrey on the 25th. 



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