TURDID^. 27 



since. Weneverdetectedit or its nest in North Devon. We 

 think it quite probable that both Dr. Moore and Bellamy 

 \vere mistaken in their identification of the bird, which we 

 do not believe to occur in Devonshire, save only as an 

 accidental straggler. 



[As the Marsh- Warbler, Acrocephalus ])alustris, has 

 been observed for many years in succession nesting around 

 Taunton, and is, moreover, a species which does not require 

 high reeds and sedge, it very probably visits Devonshire, 

 although it has hitherto escaped detection.] 



Reed-Warbler, Acrocephalus streperus (Vieill.). 



A casual visitor in summer of rare occurrence. 



Dr. Edward Moore mentions this species, in his "List of Devonshire 

 Birds '■ (Trans. Plym. Inst. 1830, p. 303), as " verj^ rare ; seldom seen 

 further west than Somersetshire ; but is marked a Devon bird in Car- 

 rington's ' Dartmoor '." In his " List of Passerine Birds of Devonshire " 

 (Muii. Xat. Hist. n. s. i. p. 170, 1S37) he says, "Hare, I possess one 

 specimen." If Turton and Kingston ai'e to l)e trusted, it was found in 

 the meadows near Newton and Ashburton. The late Mr. J. II. Gurney, 

 under the heading " Ornithological Notes from South Devon," in the 

 'Zoologist' for IbTl, p. 2070, says, "I saw this day (Gth May) several 

 Heed- Warblers at Slapton Ley, where I heard them frequently throughout 

 the remainder of the month." 



It is a rare and local species in Cornwall (Rodd) ; only known froni 

 the neighbourhood of Bridgwater and Bath in Somerset (C. S.) ; and a 

 summer migrant to Dorset (Manscl-Weydell). 



[Under the name Si/lvia turr/oidcs, Meyer (Thrush Nightingale), Bev. 

 F. < ). Morris, in liis ' British Birds ' (vol. iii. p. 207), says : " N. Howe, Esq., 

 of AVoiccster College, Oxford, has informed me that two eggs of tliis rai-e 

 British Ijird were taken at Staddiscombe, near Plymouth, in Devonshire, 

 in ]><ij()." The species intended was probably Acrocephahis tni-doidcs, 

 Meyer (Great Keefl-Warl)ler), and not rhilomeJa turdoides, Blyth (Thrush 

 Nightingale), a species which has not occurred in England {vide Newton, 

 ' Yarrcirs B. liirds,' i. p. li'A). note). The Great llecd-Warblor is, however, 

 not known to have occurred in the West of England. Its eggs are so 

 characteristic that there ought to be no mistake in their identihcation.] 



Sedge- Warbler, Acrocephalus pthragmitis (Bcchst.). 



A summer migrant, generally distributc^l in suitable localities, such as 

 river-banks, marshes, aud ponds. It is plentiful and breeds. 



