332 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the notes of some young Blackbirds in the surrounding bushes -, but as there 

 is so little variation in the cries of the young of any species, I felt justified 

 in describing the note of the young of a species from the observation of only 

 one family of nestlings. It is curious that while the songs of the Blackbird 

 and Nightingale are so dissimilar, several of the strains of the latter have 

 the same intervals of pitch, and practically the same rhythm, as some of 

 the more elaborate rattling alarms of the former. Often have I heard a 

 Nightingale sing a phrase which if heard in winter, at a distance, would 

 be easily mistaken for a Blackbird's alarm. — Chakles A. Witchell 

 (Eltham, Kent). 



Nightingale near Scarborough.— In 'The Zoologist,' 1896, p. 304, 

 Mr. W. J. Clarke records a Nightingale near Scarborough in the summer 

 of that year. This year, in the second week of Juue, I saw a Nightingale 

 within two miles of Filey, in a thicket near the roadside, with a caterpillar 

 in its beak, and within a few feet — a bird of the year. The range, how- 

 ever, of this species is now recognized as extending to the extreme north of 

 England, and Mr. Bolam, of Berwick-on-Tweed, records an undoubted 

 instance of its occurrence, in the ■ Annals of Scottish Natural History,' in 

 Northumberland, near Callaby Castle, in the summer of 1893. — John 

 Cokdeaux (Great Cotes House, Lincoln). 



Icterine Warbler at Lyme Regis.— While staying at Lyme Regis 

 during this last May, I several times heard and identified the beautiful song 

 of the Icterine Warbler, Hypolais icterina, in the wooded undercliff at 

 Ware, about a mile to the west of the town, and well within the Devon 

 boundary. I heard the bird first on May 4th ; it was singing in a large 

 whitethorn, quite in the centre of the bush, and although I waited for some 

 time with the bird singing away within a few feet of my head, it did not 

 come into view. The next time I heard it was on the 15th. It was in the 

 same bush, and again would not show itself. On this occasion I was 

 accompanied by a friend, who exclaimed, " How delightfully that Nightin- 

 gale is singing ! " but I was able to point out to him the differences between 

 the trills of the Nightingale and the clear Thrush-like notes we were 

 listening to. On the 17th the bird was heard singing from the same bush 

 by my wife, who is well acquainted with the song of the Icterine Warbler ; 

 a keen N.E. wind then set in, stilling all bird-song, and, although I re- 

 visited the spot several times, I did not hear the bird again. I may add 

 that on May 4th I heard a second Icterine Warbler singing, also in the 

 centre of a dense whitethorn, about a quarter of a mile away from where I 

 heard the first. I call this Warbler the Icterine Warbler, although the 

 Melodious Warbler, Hypolais polyglotta, is the western representative of 

 Hypolais, and therefore the one most likely to visit our southern shores. 



