Ornithological Notes. By George Bolam. 389 



or thicket enough to furnish it with a hiding place, and it is not nnfre- 

 quently heard chattering away in the bottom of some thick hedge by the 

 roadside. In this district its favourite haunt seems to be amongst tall 

 heather, and on many of our moors its thrilling song is to be heard. On 

 the hills above Langleyford and at the head of Common Burn it is some- 

 times very numerous, and must nest there in some seasons in considerable 

 numbers. 



It seems almost impossible that the note of this bird should be con- 

 founded with that of the sedge warbler to which it bears so small a 

 resemblance, but that this often happens can scarcely for a moment be 

 doubted, and many of the reported cases of its having been heard would, if 

 investigated into, probably turn out to be only the latter bird. Of course 

 such a mistake can only be mad>? by persons who have never heard the 

 voice of the grasshopper warbler, as once listened to, its trill can never 

 afterwards be mistaken for the song of any other of our warblers. 



In the fourth edition of " Yarrell's British Birds" the grasshopper 

 warbler is stated to occur in all the southern counties of Scotland with the 

 exception of Berwick, Eoxburgh, and Selkirk ; but this is probably an 

 oversight, for in the two first-named counties, at least, it is a well known 

 bird. Mr Hardy "has known it at Pease Dene from his youth up and 

 never considered it rare," and in many other localities it has also been 

 been noticed. 



Lesser Whitethroat : Sylvia curruca. (Linn.) 

 I killed two young birds, in immature plumage, in the garden here, about 

 the middle of September, 1881, and one of them is now in my collection, 

 the other having unfortunately been devoured by a tame fox in whose way 

 it chanced to fall when shot. 



Golden Crested Wren : Regulus cristatus, Koch. 

 Sometimes appears in large numbers in autumn. Thus in October, 1882, 

 they were particularly numerous and were to be found in all kinds of 

 unexpected places. Parties of from three or four up to a dozen individuals 

 occurred all over Berwick, wherever a fe^v trees or bushes were to be found 

 to afford them food and shelter, while others were observed flitting about 

 amongst the " bents" upon the links at Cheswick and Goswick. 



Upon the 18th of October they were very abundant on the sea banks 

 near Berwick, and, although not appearing to be exhausted, some of them 

 were so tame that one was actually caught beneath a hat, as it sat upon the 

 side of a small haystack which had been left standing in the field. 



In April, 1883, a gold crest was picked up in the garden with a broken 

 wing and was put into the greenhouse, where in a few hours it had become 

 so tame and familiar that it would pick aphides from my fingers, or from 

 a branch held in front of it. Hopping about from plant to plant it had in 

 two days cleared the greenhouse of aphides and other insects, and then 

 refusing to eat any other food it died. If they could only be kept alive 

 and in health some of these small birds would be the best possible cure for 

 «' green fly " in our greenhouses, for there is not a leaf or corner that they 

 leave untried, and aphides appear to form their favourite food. 



