Birds. 1547 



Arrival of Birds, fyc. at Warnford in 1846. 

 February 27th. The gray wagtail {Motacilla boarula) still to be seen in its winter 

 plumage and haunts. 



March 29th. Eggs of the song thrush hatched. 



„ 30th. Chiffchaff heard. — Blackbird's eggs hatched. The nest occupied a 

 curious position for a blackbird, being placed between one of the bottom rails of an old 

 gate and a wall against which it rested. 

 April 1st. Willow warbler seen. 

 „ 4th. Common whitethroat. 

 „ 8th. Blackcap. 

 „ 14th. Nightingale. 



„ 19th. Swallow — Sedge warbler — Wheatear first seeu — Fieldfares not gone. 

 „ 24th. House-martins. I have not observed any notice taken of the number 

 of martins being smaller than usual this year, but in common with others, have re- 

 marked it in this neighbourhood. On my own house, where their nests have been too 

 abundant (as mentioned in 'Zool.' 763), I have only had half a dozen nesls built this 

 season. A few more were begun, but for some reason or other the birds desisted. I 

 have not seen anything like the usual number of these cheerful visiters. Last year 

 there were a great many, and then the number of the smaller warblers appeared less 

 than common, which I attributed to the late spring and veiy cold weather. 

 April 24th. Cuckoo heard. 



May 4th. Lesser whitethroat. A pair of these pretty little birds usually frequent a 

 neighbour's garden during the summer months, and this year they paid my garden sun- 

 dry visits. They seem very partial to flowers, and I have seen them busy on the dah- 

 lia as late as September 23rd. My neighbour tells me they once destroyed a very 

 handsome Tropoeolum, and he bears them no good-will. According to my observation, 

 the two sexes keep much more in company than the common whitethroat, in this re- 

 spect differing from it, as the gold-crest does from the common wren. I believe this 

 little gray-coated whitethroat builds its nest in an osier-bed opposite ; it is frequently 

 seen to come from thence. 

 May 6th. Turtle-dove. 

 „ 11th. Swift — but I am told it was seen by another person on April 26th. 

 „ loth. Red-backed shrike. 

 August 30th. Gray wagtail, seen on the river's brink. It has since been frequently 

 on the ledge of our window (Zool. 763). I don't remember that it paid us a single 

 visit last year. I was told by a bird-collector at Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, that this 

 wagtail is considered rare. In this part of Hampshire it is, on the contrary, one of 

 the commonest birds in autumn and winter ; but I have nowhere seen in this neigh- 

 bourhood the common yellow wagtail {Budytes Rayii). — Edward H. M. Sladen ; 

 Warnford, near Bishop's Waltham, October, 1846. 



Remarks on the Migratory Birds in the vicinity of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. — 

 Communications respecting the local migrations of birds being invited by the Editor 

 of the ' Zoologist,' I take the liberty of forwarding the subjoined notes for insertion in 

 that periodical. I am afraid my observations are very incomplete, for I have been pre- 

 vented for a considerable time, by untoward circumstances, from following up my Na- 

 tural History pursuits with the regularity and assiduity that my inclination would 

 otherwise have dictated, but their correctness, as far as they go, I will venture to affirin 

 may be fully relied on : — 



