424 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



However, last year I was informed, by Mr. J. Henderson, of 

 Hinchley Wood, Mappleton, who lived for many years at Tixall, 

 on the borders of Cannock Chase, that in or about 1870 he met 

 with this bird for the first time, and found a nest with eggs 

 among some bushes not far from the Shugborough Road. 

 Having a butterfly-net in his hand at the time, he managed by 

 a lucky stroke to capture the sitting bird, and took both bird 

 and eggs to a friend, Mr. Mayne, who was naturally incredulous 

 on being told that a Dartford Warbler's nest had been found, 

 but the production of the nest, and, finally, the old bird, 

 effectually convinced him. Mr. Henderson is a keen observer 

 of birds, and has a distinct recollection of the peculiar throat 

 and chest coloration which is so characteristic of this species at 

 close quarters. Unfortunately he did not realize the importance 

 of his capture, and took no steps to preserve the skin, or to pub- 

 lish any account of the occurrence.* 



The most northerly locality where specimens of this species 

 have been actually secured is Melbourne, in S. Derbyshire, where a 

 pair were shot during the hard winter of 1840 from the top of a 

 furze-bush half covered with snow (J. J. Briggs, Zool. p. 2486). 

 F. B. Whitlock hazards the suggestion that these birds may 

 have wandered from Charnwood Forest, but it is at least equally 

 likely that they made their way down the gradual descent of the 

 Trent Valley from Cannock Chase to Melbourne. It was by 

 this route that the Red Grouse (which almost certainly came 

 from the Chase) made their way down to the low-lying country 

 between Tutbury and Derby in the winter of 1860-61, and 

 heavy snow on the moors of North-west Derbyshire frequently 

 drives them down the Dove Valley. Moreover, according to 

 Mr. M. Browne, the Dartford Warbler has not occurred in 

 Leicestershire. 



That this bird wanders in winter to places remote from its 

 usual haunts has long been known, and probably, like the Stone- 

 chat, its numbers are much diminished by a spell of severe 

 weather. I have myself seen a pair within the precincts of the 



* Mr. Henderson's name will be familiar to students of Messrs. Harvie- 

 Brown and Buckley's ' Fauna of Argyll and the Inner Hebrides,' as former 

 essee of the shooting of Tiree, and a contributor of ornithological notes to 

 that volume. 



