BIRD MOVEMENTS IN SPRING 
49 
earlier arrivals as well as the majority of our indigenous birds 
— we have only one, the red grouse, that is endemic — have long 
commenced and in many cases completed, prejiarations for 
nesting, whilst it is not unusual to find by the end of April or 
beginning of May, several nests of the chiffchaff, willow-wren, 
greater white-throat, tree pipit and blackcap, containing one 
or more eggs, and in very early seasons even a full clutch partly 
incubated. 
Somewhat irregular in their arrival are the reed warbler and 
the common sand piper, both of which arrive between the last 
week in April and the first in May. The sedge-warbler is to be 
heard singing its merry little song from May 5 onward, along 
most of our roads or along the margin of lakes, ponds and rivers, 
and in fact almost everywhere. The nest of this bird may truly 
be said to be the most beautifully constructed nest of all those 
built by our summer migrants. 
The swift, so-called from its quick, dashing flight and readily 
distinguished at sight by its slender shape and black plumage, 
from the swallow, martin and sand-martin, appears during the 
next week, i.e., from the 6th to the 12th. Then after that 
comes sweet Philomel, the nightingale, which may be heard 
singing either at night or by day, in the Midlands before the loth 
or I2th, in the south in the first week in May. It is seldom seen 
far north of Derbyshire or west of the Severn, and has about 
the same range as the wrv’neck. 
The nightjar begins to disturb our rest at night by its jarring 
note — hence the name — by the 13th or 14th, and though very 
local in its distribution, it is to be found on most of the heaths 
and commons of England and on Scotch moors throughout the 
summer. 
The red-backed shrike, which is a lover of the southern downs 
and commons, may be seen in the Midlands about the same 
time. 
The latest birds to appear, perhaps, are the pied flycatcher 
or “ beam-bird,” and the turtle-dove, which are seldom seen 
before the 20th, at least in the Midlands. Nests of the spotted 
flycatcher containing eggs may be found by June 8, however, 
which shows what little time this busy little bird loses before 
devoting itself to the serious task of rearing a family. 
This disposes of most of the regular summer migrants. The 
Kentish plover, the quail, the hobby and the ring ouzel, though 
not rare, are very local in their distribution, the two former 
arriving in May, the two latter at the end of March or the begin- 
ning of April. As for the other migratory birds, such as the 
hoopoe, great grey shrike, golden oriole, waxwing, &c., their 
occurrence is so rare that though from this very fact it might 
seem contradictory, yet no adequate idea can be obtained as tc 
their periods of migration to these shores, more or less haphazard 
