A HISTORY OF KENT The specimens on record have all been ob- tained in the winter and after stormy weather. The first individual, a female, was shot in an apple tree in December i860 at Rainham, by Mr. Walter Prentis. Another specimen was obtained at Whitfield near Dover in 1884; while the last two records are from the neighbourhood of Lydd. On 10 October 1896, after several days of stormy weather with strong south-easterly winds, a male bird was shot by Mr. Brann of Broomhill farm near Rye, in an apple tree outside his house. The bird was in company with several of the common species. It was sent to me for identification and preserved by Mr. Springett ofCranbrook. The second specimen, another male, was shot in the same tree in 1897, and curiously enough on the same date, 10 Octo- ber. Both of the specimens are now in my collection. 22. ChiiFchaff. Phylloscopm rufus (Bechstein) Locally Oven-builder. A common spring migrant. My diary for several years records its appearance between 24 and 28 March, when its well known note has been very hoarse and hardly audible. 23. Willow-Warbler. Phylloscopus trochilus (Linn.) Locally, Yellow Wren. A common summer migrant coming in the first week of April, and from that period on- ward this bird arrives in parties at well marked intervals, a wood that was silent before be- coming suddenly filled with their voices. As soon as the buds of the apple trees show signs of bursting, the bird is often to be heard in orchards, where it seeks after and feeds upon the destructive apple aphis {Aph'n mali). The food of this little warbler con- sists to a great extent of these injurious in- sects, and for this reason gardeners should encourage the bird in their gardens, where, in August especially, it may be noticed attack- ing the broods of aphis on the rose bushes. I have found the willow-warbler nesting in colonies, discovering as many as five nests in one copse. From the shape of their nests both the willow-warbler and chifFchafF are locally known as ' oven birds.' 24. Wood-Warbler. Phyttoscopus sibilatrix (Bechstein) Locally, Yellovif Willow- Wren. The wood-warbler is of local distribution in the county and arrives about the middle of April. In some districts however it is the most numerous of the three yellow warblers. I first observed this species in the Cranbrook district in the summer of i8g6. A few pairs now come annually to certain spots in the Angley and Bedgebury woods, in which are to be found tall firs and beeches, trees of which the wood-warbler seems very fond. At Eastwell near Ashford the wood-warbler is locally distributed, while it does not appear to be found in the Canterbury district (Oxen- den Hammond). In the woods about Dover it breeds sparingly (Gray). In the Chatham and Sittingbourne districts the bird is only seen on passage in spring and autumn. 25. Icterine Warbler. Hypokh icterina (Vieillot) The rare icterine warbler has occurred once in Kent ; the first example obtained in England is now in the Dover Museum, having been killed at Eythorne on 15 June 1848 by the late Charles Gordon. This warbler is common on the continent, and it is quite likely that it occurs more often in England than is supposed, since, owing to the thick foliage, it probably escapes detection, while to an ordinary observer the bird would pass as a wood-warbler. However, its stouter build, yellower under-parts and the lack of yellowish-green on the upper parts, serve principally to distinguish it from the latter species. 26. Reed - Warbler. Acrocephalus streperus (Vieillot) This warbler arrives in Kent in the latter part of April and is still plentiful in suitable localities, especially in the Wingham and Romney marshland and in the vicinity of the river Rother, but there is not a doubt that its numbers have of late years decreased, owing to the drainage of our reed beds and marshy places. Further, this drainage and the prolonged droughts of the last three sea- sons have afforded to the farmers an easier access to these reed beds, which they now systematically cut over, using the reeds as thatching material for their stacks. [No identified example of the marsh- warbler {Acrocephalus palustris, Bechstein) is known to have occurred in the county, but the species may easily have been overlooked, owing to its similarity to the reed-warbler, from which it chiefly differs in having the upper parts washed with a distinct greenish olive-brown instead of rufous. Especially is this noticeable in the feathers of the rump. I have carefully examined a reputed specimen of this bird in the fine collection of Mr. Walter Prentis and mentioned by him 274
