BIRDS have seen the latter bird frequenting the bro- ken stony ground on the highest point of the Cotteswold range about Cheltenham in the summer, and from the solicitude of the bird entertained no doubt of the existence of a nest somewhere near ; and as that locality is not very distant from the Malvern Hills, it is probable that it was the large w^heatear which Lees observed. 8. Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.). This is during the whole of the summer one of the commonest of our migratory birds, freely nesting in the fields and meadows, the nest being very frequently mown over in the hay-making season. 9. Stonechat. Pratincola rubicola (Linn.). The stonechat is much less common than the whinchat, and is resident. It frequents not only barren stony places, but also cultivated fields, and may not infrequently be seen perched on the very top sprig of a roadside hedge. The considerable difference in the plumage of the sexes enables the observer to determine at a glance when there are two together that they are a pair ; as that is often the case even in mid-winter it seems not unlikely that the stonechat pairs for life. The nest is usually so well concealed that it is most difficult to find. Generally speaking, some piece of waste land is chosen where the nest will not be laid bare by the scythe. I have found it on the Worcestershire side of the Malvern Hills, where it is said by Lees to appear as a summer visitor — but it is certainly a resident bird. 10. Redstart. Ruticilla phcEnicurus {Lmn.). The redstart is one of the earliest of our summer migrants to visit us and is regularly require more than a notice of him as a Wor- cestershire bird. 13. Nightingale. Daulias luscinia {Lmn.). The nightingale is plentiful in the valleys of the Severn, the Avon and the Teme, and such parts of their tributaries as run through low and fertile places ; the higher and com- paratively barren regions of the county are not frequented by this unrivalled songster. But in even the most favoured spots the number of nightingales varies greatly from year to year. One year they may be heard in almost every brake and hedgerow, and in another be thinly scattered, their numbers being readily known by their song. It would not be diffi- cult to make a census of the nightingales in a given area by counting the birds heard singing. [Northern Nightingale. DauUas philomela. About the middle of June, 1879, I heard the song of some bird, with which I was wholly unacquainted, proceeding from a thick brake of umbelliferous plants, white with blos- som, in the orchard of a house in South Littleton. It was a very loud, clear and continuous song. Proceeding very cautiously I approached quite near to the bird and saw him very distinctly, and indeed watched him for some time. He was of an uniform brown colour, a little paler beneath, and the throat, swollen by song, appeared to be quite white. I have subsequently examined pre- served skins of the northern nightingale and do not hesitate to identify the bird I saw with that species. The only discrepan " lies in the colour of the throat, which is i white, though light-coloured, in the skins. I may, however, observe that Temminck in his work the birds of Europe says, ' Gorge blanche., distributed, nesting indiscriminately in holes of entourh de gres fonce; which agrees pretty accu trees, walls or buildings, usually but not al- ways so far within as not to be seen from outside, and generally discovered, if at all, by the bird flying out. The old orchards of Worcestershire are very favourite places with the redstart, and the nest is often in a hole in an aged apple tree. 11. Black Redstart. Ruticilla ///;ij (Scopoli). The occurrence of this bird in Worcester- shire was for some time doubtful, resting on the statements of one having been seen at Cracombe, near Evesham. Mr. W. Edwards has, however, disposed of the doubt by the following note : ' Black Redstart found dead in the Priory Church, Malvern, in 1884.' 12. Redbreast. Erithacus rubecula (Linn.). Though one of the most interesting of our resident birds, the robin is too well known to rately with what I saw. Herr Gatke met with the northern nightingale once only in Heligoland, and he observes, ' It would there- fore appear that of the many migrants visiting this island from high northern latitudes, or the far east, few persist with such stubbornness in the north-to-south direction of their line of flight as does this species.'] 14. Whitethroat. Sylvia cinerea (Bechstein). The present species is so common and so well known all through the summer that it may pass with the remark that it is heard in every hedge bottom and almost every bush. 15. Lesser Whitethroat. Sylvia curruca (Linn.). Although this bird is a common summer visitor it is not nearly so abundant as the last- 45 L
