the notes of some young Blackbirds in the surrounding bushes; but as there is so little variation in the cries of the young of any species, I felt justified in describing the note of the young of a species from the observation of only one family of nestlings. It is curious that while the songs of the Blackbird and Nightingale are so dissimilar, several of the strains of the latter have the same intervals of pitch, and practically the same rhythm, as some of the more elaborate rattling alarms of the former. Often have I heard a Nightingale sing a phrase which if heard in winter, at a distance, would be easily mistaken for a Blackbird's alarm.—Charles A. Witchell (Eltham, Kent).
Nightingale near Scarborough.—In 'The Zoologist,' 1896, p. 304, Mr. W.J. Clarke records a Nightingale near Scarborough in the summer of that year. This year, in the second week of June, I saw a Nightingale within two miles of Filey, in a thicket near the roadside, with a caterpillar in its beak, and within a few feet—a bird of the year. The range, however, of this species is now recognized as extending to the extreme north of England, and Mr. Bolam, of Berwick-on-Tweed, records an undoubted instance of its occurrence, in the 'Annals of Scottish Natural History,' in Northumberland, near Callaby Castle, in the summer of 1893.—John Cordeaux (Great Cotes House, Lincoln).
Icterine Warbler at Lyme Regis.— While staying at Lyme Regis during this last May, I several times heard and identified the beautiful song of the Icterine Warbler, Hypolais icterina, in the wooded undercliff at Ware, about a mile to the west of the town, and well within the Devon boundary. I heard the bird first on May 4th; it was singing in a large whitethorn, quite in the centre of the bush, and although I waited for some time with the bird singing away within a few feet of my head, it did not come into view. The next time I heard it was on the 15th. It was in the same bush, and again would not show itself. On this occasion I was accompanied by a friend, who exclaimed, "How delightfully that Nightingale is singing!" but I was able to point out to him the differences between the trills of the Nightingale and the clear Thrush-like notes we were listening to. On the 17th the bird was heard singing from the same bush by my wife, who is well acquainted with the song of the Icterine Warbler; a keen N.E. wind then set in, stilling all bird-song, and, although I revisited the spot several times, I did not hear the bird again. I may add that on May 4th I heard a second Icterine Warbler singing, also in the centre of a dense whitethorn, about a quarter of a mile away from where I heard the first. I call this Warbler the Icterine Warbler, although the Melodious Warbler, Hypolais polyglotta, is the western representative of Hypolais, and therefore the one most likely to visit our southern shores.
