71 



THE LESSER WHITETHROAT. 



Sylvia curmca (L.). 



The Lesser Whitethroat apparently entered the country at 

 various points along the south coast, chiefly to the east of 

 Hampshire. 



The earliest arrivals were recorded from Dorsetshire, 

 where a few stragglers appeared between the 13th and the 

 23rd of April. On the 26th two were observed in Kent. 



These probably formed part of an immigration on the 

 south-east coast, as nine were noted in Northamptonshire, and 

 one in Yorkshire on the following day. 



For the next few days the records were of single birds, 

 or of twos and threes, from such widely separated districts 

 as Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Leicestershire, Worcestershire, 

 Cheshire, Yorkshire, &c. ; but there was very little evidence 

 as to their point of entry, though a slight increase in Surrey 

 and the Isle of Wight seemed to indicate that it took place 

 on the south-eastern portion of the coast. 



A further increase was noted in Kent, Herts, Stafford- 

 shire, Bedford and Cheshire on the 4th of May. 



Between the 4th and the 11th fresh arrivals reached the 

 south-eastern coast, as was shown by the records from 

 St. Catherine light, and an increase in the counties of Sussex, 

 Kent and Essex. These birds apparently passed on in a 

 northerly and westerly direction. 



The only records from the extreme north mention a single 

 bird on the 11th and two on the 15th from Northumberland. 



By the middle of May the birds were settling down in 

 their breeding-haunts, and nests with eggs were reported 

 from Cambridgeshire on the 16th, from Hampshire on the 

 21st, from Surrey on the 24th, and from Radnorshire on 

 the 29th of May. 



