BLYTH ON THE BRITISH FRUIT-EATIKG WARBLERS. 317 



opinion, much of its usual sweetness. I cannot, however, place the 

 music of this bird in the very high scale to which it has been assigned 

 by some writers : though undoubtedly a pretty songster, it is not to be 

 compared to the garden warbler or the black cap, or in my opinion, to 

 several other British birds. It is worthy of remark that the whitethroat, 

 the garden warbler, the babillard, and the furze warbler, all repeat the 

 same harsh note of alarm when their nest is approached ; but the furze 

 warbler and the whitethroat most pertinaciously, and it is amusing to 

 observe the whitethroat when he thinks his nest out of danger, as he 

 flies backward and forward crying too-ip, too-ip, too-ip, for joy. 



The furze warbler's song is much like that of the whitethroat, and 

 is delivered in the same hurried manner which is observed in all these 

 birds; some of its notes are much like parts of the linnet's song, and it 

 has others which are peculiar to itself. It is a very pretty little bird, 

 erecting its crest and tail when it sings, and whisking about all the time 

 with such agility that it is by no means an easy bird to shoot. Sometimes, 

 like the whitethroat, it will sit singing on the topmost twig of a furze 

 bush, and the moment it perceives itself observed, will drop down into 

 the furze, and it will be often a long time before another sight of it can 

 be obtained, as it re-appears singing on the top of another bush. A very 

 beautiful feature in this little bird is the bright orange yellow of the 

 orbits of the eyes, similar to those of the bottletit. 



It is worthy of remark, that six or seven furze warblers in the posses- 

 sion of my friend Mr. Bennett, of Upper Baker Street, London, all, 

 both old and young, exhibited the migratory impulse very strongly last 

 winter, although the species is resident in this country throughout the 

 year. I had long, however, suspected that there was a partial migration 

 of these birds, having observed them in some places much commoner in 

 spring than in the winter, and the above fact tends to strengthen my 

 suspicions : possibly, as in the stonechat, the young of the preceding 

 summer may leave the country, while the older birds continue resident ; 

 or their habits may be affected by the particular locality which they 

 may chance to inhabit ; as the robin-redbreast, a stationary bird in Eng- 

 land is migratory in many parts of the continent. The manners of the 

 furze warbler, in confinement, much resemble those of the babillard ; it 

 often darts about in the same active manner as that bird, and has also 

 the same remarkable habit of throwing back the head. A babillard, in 

 my possession, rarely descends to the bottom of the cage without per- 

 forming a somerset in the air, throwing himself over backwards. I may 

 here observe, that the babillard does not acquire the beautiful pearly 



VOL. i. NO. vii. (JULY 1833.) z 



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