A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE Inasmuch as it is most difficult to identify this that a nest of this bird had been obtained in small bird unless it is shot, I think that perhaps Hertfordshire. I can find no further informa- the observer may have mistaken the male of tion in corroboration of this statement, which the last species for this bird. therefore always remains open to doubt.] 22. Chiffchaff. Phylloscopus rufus (Bechstein). This is a bird which seems very irregularly distributed over the county, being common in some districts, but quite scarce in others. It arrives very often about March 2ist, although, if the weather is very cold, it does not make itself heard. It appears to stay well on into September and even October, and its song may be sometimes heard at that time of the year. 23. Willow-Warbler. Phylloscopus trochilus (Linn.). This is a very common summer visitor to all parts of the county, arriving early in April and remaining till September. This species may also be heard singing late in the year. 24. Wood - Warbler. Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Bechstein). This is rather a local species in the county, but on the western side it is certainly plentiful. It has however a curious way of frequenting a wood one summer and being entirely absent from it the next. It is probable that it is commoner in Hertfordshire than is actually known at present, as it is a species that many persons are unacquainted with, no doubt on account of its habit of singing at the tops of the trees in the woods it frequents. On the other side of the county Mr. H. S. Rivers has identified it at Sawbridgeworth. Its usual time of arrival is about the end of April or beginning of May. 25. Reed -Warbler. Acrocephalus streperus (Vieillot). This bird is rather local in Hertfordshire on account of the scarcity of suitable localities for it. It is however found in numbers at the Tring reservoirs. The reed-warbler usually arrives about April 2Oth. 26. Marsh-Warbler. Acrocephalus palustris (Bechstein). A specimen of this bird is said to have been shot on one of the Tring reservoirs in August, 1883. [Great Reed-Warbler. Acrocephalus tur- do'ides (Meyer). The record of this fine species in Hertford- shire is in my opinion due to some mistake. It rests upon the authority of Mr. More, who in his paper on the ' Distribution of British Birds,' which appeared in the Ibis for 1865, mentioned that the late Mr. F. Bond stated 27. Sedge- Warbler. Acrocephalus phragmitis (Bechstein). The sedge-warbler is found in many parts of the county chiefly in the neighbourhood of water, though not always so. It generally arrives about the middle of April. 28. Grasshopper- Warbler. Locust ella neevia (Boddaert). The grasshopper-lark, as it is sometimes called, is to be found on many of our commons in some numbers ; in fact at Berkhamsted it can be considered plentiful. This bird when it first arrives is quite bold, sitting on the top of some bush and reeling out its curious song ; but it soon becomes much more shy. Its usual time for arrival is about the last week in April. 29. Hedge-Sparrow. The hedge-sparrow is a common resident throughout the county. Mr. William Hill, jun., of Hitchin, in 1881 found a nest of this species containing eggs on January ist. I do not think that this bird is very subject to variation in colour, but Mr. Spary of St. Albans informs me that he has one of a cinnamon colour, which was shot near that city in 1896. 30. Dipper. Cinclus aquaticus, Bechstein. Hertfordshire does not unfortunately possess such streams as the dipper loves, but it has on two or three occasions condescended to visit us. In the Zoologist for 1849 Mr. Lucas mentions a dipper that was shot at Westmill on the river Orton near Hitchin in the winter of 1848. It was obtained in the mill-tail, and appeared to be a young male in good plumage. The late Mr. Littleboy also men- tioned having seen this bird on two occasions about 1874 at Hunton Bridge. 31. Bearded Reedling. Panurus biarmicus (Linn.). This beautiful bird has been recorded on three occasions in Hertfordshire. The first instance was mentioned by the Rev. James Williams in the Zoologist for 1849, where he stated that a pair of these birds, male and female, had been shot at the Tring reservoirs on December 2ist, 1848. He only observed two at the time, which flew out of an alder bush into the reeds. A little earlier in the same year Mr. William Lucas of Hitchin saw a small flock of these birds on the banks of I 9 8
