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ON THE NORTHERN BREEDING RANGE OF THE 

 DARTFORD WARBLER, SYLVIA UNDATA (Bodd.). 



By the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain, M.A., M.B.O.U. 



Mr. H. E. Forrest's most interesting note (ante, p. 349) on 

 the breeding of this species in the neighbourhood of Ludlow 

 confirms the supposition that the northern breeding range of S. 

 undata has hitherto been imperfectly known, and that further 

 research may result in the discovery of new breeding haunts. Such 

 a skulking and inconspicuous species is always liable to be over- 

 looked even in well-worked localities. At the time of the publi- 

 cation of the fourth edition of ' Yarrell ' it was not known to breed 

 north of the Thames in any county except Middlesex. Since that 

 time Prof. Newton has recorded his observations on its breeding 

 habits in East Suffolk (' Ootheca Wolleyana,' p. 344, &c), and 

 Mr. Howard Saunders, in the second edition of his ' Manual ' 

 (1899), gives the following account of its distribution in the 

 breeding season : — " It is known to breed in nearly all the 

 southern counties from Cornwall to Kent inclusive, especially in 

 Hampshire (and the Isle of Wight), Surrey, and Sussex; spar- 

 ingly in the valley of the Thames, and perhaps in some of the 

 midland counties, while it has been observed in Cambridgeshire, 

 and undoubtedly nests in Suffolk and Norfolk." (It will be seen 

 from the above extract that Mr. C. Dixon's account of the 

 nesting of this species in the Rivelin Valley near Sheffield is not 

 considered to be authenticated. No subsequent observer has, 

 as far as I am aware, met with it in the neighbourhood.) 



Mr. Forrest's information places the fact of its having bred 

 in Shropshire in 1902 beyond dispute, and it will be seen that 

 there is every reason to suppose that it has also nested in the 

 neighbouring county of Stafford. It is included by Dr. McAldowie 

 in his 'Birds of Staffordshire ' (1893) as " occurring on Cannock 

 Chase," on the authority of Mr. Yates, but no details are given, 

 and until recently no confirmatory evidence was forthcoming. 



