BIRDS winter approaches many of the robins, especi- ally the birds of the year, retire to our thick fir woods, where they roost in the warm beds of pine-needles, or in holes scratched by rabbits and other rodents. 14. Nightingale. Dau/ias luscinia (Linn.) In the third week of April the nightingale appears in the county (the male birds arriving first) to take up their summer quarters in our copses. This species has increased very much within the last three years, and pairs may even be found nesting within the confines of our gardens. A good idea of its distribution in the county may be arrived at by following the course of the valleys, for the nightingale in- variably selects the low wood-covered ground, where streams may be found, in preference to any other ; and in such places colonies may be met with, the birds returning yearly to the same spots. A remarkable instance of devotion towards their offspring occurred near Cranbrook in 1897. A pair chose as a nesting site a bank directly behind the rifle range, where practice was carried on twice a week. The nest was placed in a hole made by former bullets and in a line with the central target. Two days after the young appeared the male bird was killed, but his mate continued to feed her five young ones amid the spattering of bullets. The young eventually left the nest and gained a bunch of faggots just above it, and whilst here one of the little band was killed. After this the mother led them to a safer retreat, out of range. 15. Whitethroat. Sylvia cinerea (Bcchs^itln) Locally, Nettle-creeper. Between 13 and 20 April the common whitethroat may be looked for, but the date of its arrival varies a good deal with the con- dition of the weather, for should the spring be wet and inclement the bird will not be seen much before the latter date. This summer migrant is numerous throughout the county. 16. Lesser Whitethroat. Sylvia curruca {h'mn.) The lesser whitethroat arrives about the same time as its close congener, but it is rather a scarce bird and of local distribution, keeping much to the tops of trees, especially oaks. A marked increase in the numbers of this warbler took place in many localities in the summer of 1896, when both this and the previous season were remarkable for the great plagues of the green oak-moth {Tortrix viridana), whose caterpillars stripped and dril- led to a deplorable extent many of our oaks. I On these the young of the lesser whitethroat are principally fed. 17. Blackcap. Sylvia atricapilla (Linn.) Common in the well wooded districts from the middle of April onward, but its distribu- tion varies yearly. Its appearance in Kent has been recorded in the end of March. 18. Garden-Warbler. Sylvia hartensis {Bech- stein) Not so common as the preceding species, and I have noticed that in localities where the one species abounds the other is absent. In the summer of 1896, when our oaks suffered severely from caterpillars, the garden-warbler, which had been scarce in the neighbourhood of Cranbrook, became numerous, while at the same time the blackcap warbler almost dis- appeared. 19. Dartford Warbler. Sylvia undata (Bod- daert). This warbler is named after the town near which it was first recognized as an English species by Dr. Latham, who obtained a pair on Bexley Heath near Dartford on 10 April 1773. It is a scarce resident and chiefly confined to the western portion of the county, where there are heath and furze commons. It has been obtained at Guston near Dover (16 March 1887), at Woolwich {Zoologiit, 1863, p. 8819) and at Rainham (Prentis). 20. Goldcrest. Regulus cristatus, K. L. Koch. Found throughout the county. Of late years it has become numerous owing to the increase of larch and fir plantations, where it is generally to be found in small parties throughout the winter, returning in the spring to our gardens as soon as the deodars begin to put forth their shoots, beneath whose tray- like branches it suspends its beautiful little nest. About the middle of November, when stormy weather with south-westerly winds is generally experienced, numbers arrive on the coast from the continent and leave again in April. These birds possess a roving disposi- tion and continually shift from one locality to another, never being in one place for any length of time. Mr. Walter Prentis of Rain- ham, writing in 1894, says : 'I have not seen the golden-crested wren for several years ; what has become of them I do not know, unless they have been affected by the cold and wet summers.' 21. Firecrest. Regulus ignicapillus (C. L. Brehm). This wren is a rare visitor to the county. 73 35
