92
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
The Reed Warbler nests rather freely round Mr. G.
Buxton's pond at Birch Hall, Theydon Bois, and I also know
the species at Passingford Bridge. Otherwise, I agree with Mr.
Christy that it is rare in inland Essex.
The Grasshopper Warbler occurs annually at Passingford
Bridge, the strange little song being sometimes uttered at
midnight in June.
It is a common experience, in winter, to find cracked and
emptied hornbeam fruits wedged into crevices in the rough bark
of oak or hawthorn. By the end of February, in Gaunt's Wood,
Theydon Bois, I found that almost all of the thousands of fruits
which strew the ground are fractured. I suspect the Great
Tit as the agent in the work on the ground, for it is the species
most often seen searching (in a very pretty manner) amongst
the dead leaves. Probably it is also responsible for the wedged
fruits. The Nuthatch is a conspicuous native of the wood,
but in winter it appears to be entirely insectivorous here.
On the 9th May 1912 I got an excellent view of a White
Wagtail at Curtis Mill Green, my only experience of this species
in Essex, although I have met with it in other counties. It
was extremely wild, and probably a migrant, for I saw the bird
finally take flight to disappear in the. distance. The general
Tern-like coloration and slightly different voice were well-marked,
and separated the bird at once from the Pied Wagtails in the
locality. The latter bird, during winter, has the habit of roosting
in great flocks in the reeds at Birch Hall, and on the 13th March
1916 I counted 150 at this place; and, two years later, I record
"double this number."4
Colonies of breeding Tree Sparrows have been noted in the
Mardyke valley (where they were nesting in buildings); near
Rainham, and near Abridge. On 23rd March 1919 I saw a
flock of about 200 near Ongar, unaccompanied by the usual
House Sparrows or other finches.
The song of the Bullfinch may be heard by anyone who
devotes a little attention to this abundant Essex bird. It is
so very subdued as to be inaudible at the distance of more than a
score of yards, and some of the details of the melody cannot
easily be heard at half this distance.
5 The Pied Wagtails, to the number of too or more, were still returning to the pond
each night up to the 15th June, 1919.