BIRDS OF LEICESTERSHIRE. 25 



pitta; Garden Warbler, S. hortensis. — These three species vary 

 curiously in numbers from year to year. I have never known a 

 season in which all the three species were equally common. With 

 the exception of S. curruca, scarce in the lower Soar Valley. In 

 the case of S. hortensis there seems to be an excess of males over 

 females ; some woods will resound with their song, but the female 

 is not to be seen, neither is there any cover for the nest. 



Goldcrest, Regulus cristatus. — Far from uncommon, breeding 

 in the Loughborough neighbourhood and on Charnwood Forest, 

 but favours localities containing trees of the fir tribe. A pair bred 

 in the grounds of the Loughborough Grammar School. 



Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus rufus. — Fifteen years ago this was 

 a very common species, and I found many [nests. A few still 

 breed with us in North Leicestershire, and I met with young birds 

 in September this year. In the ' Birds of Cumberland ' will be 

 found some notes on the extension northwards of the range of the 

 Chiffchaff. There may be some connection in this and its partial 

 disappearance from North Leicestershire. I once took the nest 

 on a low branch of a spruce fir. 



Wood Warbler, Phylloscopus sibilatrix.— Could I have anti- 

 cipated Mr. Browne's notes on this species, I might have been 

 able to place in his hands a nest and eggs, taken with a second 

 one on Charnwood Forest last year ; but as I possessed authentic 

 eggs of the Wood Warbler, I only took a passing interest in them. 

 I have known the Wood Warbler as a regular spring visitor, in 

 small numbers, to certain woods on Charnwood Forest, for the 

 last twenty years. I also meet with it in certain plantations in 

 Notts, close to the Leicestershire border, most seasons. I have 

 also observed it in Derbyshire. Writing from memory only, I 

 think I heard it twelve years ago on a visit to the woods at 

 Belvoir, but I do not insist on this latter locality. From its 

 habit of frequenting the tops of trees, it is often more heard than 

 seen ; but there should be no difficulty in finding the bird, when 

 guided by its song, if one only looks for it before the oak woods 

 are in full leaf. 



Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus streperus. — This species still 

 breeds in the localities enumerated by Harley, though it certainly 

 does not abound in any part of the lower Soar Valley. The most 

 remarkable situation in which I have found the nest was in a 

 willow tree, some 30 feet from the ground. The materials used 



