A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



company with many other birds of various 

 species at Kingsbridge, evidently on migration. 

 In north Devon it is common in the oak 

 w^oods near Clovelly, and near Dulverton in 

 Somerset, which is close to the north-eastern 

 border of Devon. 



28. Rufous Warbler. Asdon galactodes 



(Temminck) 



An accidental visitor from southern Europe. 

 The same district of south Devon has afforded 

 two instances of the occurrence of this species. 

 The first was shot near the Start by Mr. W. 

 Dillwyn Llewellyn in September 1859, after 

 a strong south wind had been blowing for 

 some time, and was so much injured that it 

 could not be mounted. It had lost its tail and 

 was very thin. The second bird occurred 

 near Kingsbridge on 12 October 1876. 

 The bird was first noticed by the late Mr. 

 W. Bastard of Slapton, whose attention was 

 attracted to it by its colour and its strange 

 antics. When flushed in a turnip field it 

 flew to a hedge, from which it made short 

 flights into the air, descending each time with 

 its broad, fan-shaped tail expanded. It was 

 shot, and proved to be a young bird of the 

 year. It is now in the possession of Mrs. 

 Bastard. 



29. Melodious Warbler. Hypolais polyglotta 



(VieiUot) 



Probably a regular summer migrant to the 

 extreme south-eastern corner of the county. 

 Bellamy in his Natural History of South Devon 

 gives a description of an unknown warbler, 

 which appears to have been a species of i/y/u- 

 lais, and possibly this one, the most western 

 of the genus, inhabiting France and the 

 Iberian Peninsula. It was shot at Whiteford, 

 in the neighbourhood of Plymouth, by Pin- 

 combe, a taxidermist of Devonport. No 

 further occurrence is recorded until early in 

 May 1897 the Rev. Murray A. Mathew 

 visited Lyme Regis, and in the wooded under- 

 clifF at Ware, about a mile to the west of the 

 town, and on the Devonshire side of it, heard 

 two birds singing which he believed at the 

 time to be icterine warblers (i7. icterina). 

 The next year (1898) at the same time he 

 once more visited the spot, and was fortunate 

 enough to again meet with many individuals 

 of the warblers, which he was enabled to 

 identify as belonging to this species as far as 

 was possible without having them in his hand. 

 As there were so many of the birds it is 

 probable that those heard the previous year 

 had nested and successfully brought oflF their 

 brood {Zool. iv. 2, p. 265). 



30. Reed - Warbler. Acrocephalus streperus 



(Vieillot) 

 A summer migrant, very local in its distri- 

 bution, but in most years abundant where it 

 occurs, and breeds freely. It was formerly 

 supposed to be of very rare occurrence in 

 Devonshire, and was not even suspected of be- 

 ing found in the county by Colonel Montagu, 

 who states it was unknown in the south- 

 western counties. At the beginning of May 

 1 87 1 Mr. J. H. Gurney visited Slapton Ley 

 and saw several reed-warblers there, and 

 frequently heard them singing during the rest 

 of the month. In the Zoologist for 1892 

 (p. 408) Mr. E. A. S. Elliot drew attention 

 to a statement made by the late Mr. W. V. 

 Toll, who resided close to Slapton Ley, that 

 hundreds of reed-warblers bred every year 

 amongst the reeds in the Ley. In the second 

 week of May 1895 the Rev. Murray A. 

 Mathew and the writer paid a visit to this 

 interesting piece of water, and saw great 

 numbers of reed-warblers in the hedges 

 around the Ley, and some were engaged in 

 carrying materials for their nests, although 

 the reeds were not yet grown up. Mr, 

 Elliot has since ascertained that the reed- 

 warbler is a regular summer visitor to Thurle- 

 stone and Milton Leys. It is also stated to 

 frequent reed beds on the Dart near Totnes. 

 It has not been detected on the Exe. 



31. Sedge- Warbler. Acrocephalus phragmitis 



(Bechstein) 

 A summer migrant, generally distributed 

 and numerous in suitable localities, such as 

 sedgy banks of rivers, ponds, marsh-ditches 

 and withy-beds. Arrives about the end of 

 April and disappears about Michaelmas. Mr. 

 Eagle Clarke obtained examples on the night 

 of 23 September 1901, at the Eddystone 

 Lighthouse. 



32. Grasshopper-Warbler. Locustella navia 



(Boddaert) 

 A summer migrant of very local distribu- 

 tion. It is rare in the Plymouth district, but 

 is more numerous about Kingsbridge and 

 Exeter. The late Lord Lilford found six 

 nests of this warbler in a small patch of 

 ground on the northern slopes of Dartmoor. 

 The only place in north Devon at which its 

 occurrence has been recorded is Westward 

 Ho ! where it is met with in early spring. 



33. Hedge - Sparrow. Accentor modularis 



(Linn.) 

 Locally, Dinnick, Segge (O.E, heisugge) 

 An abundant resident, generally distributed 

 throughout the county, except the central 



300 



