ON THE SMALLER BRITISH BIRDS. 253 



All the arrivals of summer birds have been remarkably late this year. Near 

 Dublin — always, we understand, an early locality — both the vegetable and 

 animal world appear to have been more forward than with us (see pp. 221 and 

 225), although it must be remembered that, as " one Swallow does not make a 

 summer," so the appearance of one or two individuals of even several plants or 

 animals cannot be adduced to prove the forwardness of a season. The following 

 are the dates of the arrival of some of our migratory birds in the north 

 of England: — 



In Yorkshire we first saw the Darklegged Warbler* (Sylvia loquaxj on the 

 21st of April; the Swallow on the 24th ; the Tree Pipit (Anthus arboreus) on 

 the 26th ; the Wood Warbler on the 28th ; the Cuckoo on the 4th of May ; the 

 Meadow Crake (Crex pratensis) on the same day; the Sibilous Locustell 

 (Locustella sibilatrix), Whin Chat (Saxicola rubetra), and Blackcapt Fauvet 

 (Ficedula atricapillaj, also on the 4th ; we first observed the White-throated 

 Fauvet (F. cinerea) on the 7th, but we had not previously visited the favourite 

 haunts of this species for some weeks, and think it probable it may have arrived 

 a few days sooner. From the few familiar instances above noted, it will be quite 

 clear that the backwardness of the season, as regards weather and vegetation, has 

 materially retarded the appearance of our birds of passage. The Darklegged 

 Warbler is usually our earliest spring visitant ; we have seen it at the beginning 

 of February, but did not observe it till towards the close of April this year. 

 The Swallows generally arrive on the 10th of April, but not until the 24th of 

 that month in 1837, and they did not muster in full force till about the 4th of 

 May, on which day we had a very large accession, both of species and individuals, 

 of migratory birds. 



We have lately discovered that the Tree Pipit (Anthus arboreus) is in the 

 constant habit of wagging its tail slowly up and down when perched. This 

 circumstance — which appears to have escaped the notice of all previous 

 writers, and is not recorded in our own Song Birds — is not only interesting in 

 itself, but valuable in a systematic point of view. It proves the close relation- 

 ship of the more arboreal Pipits to the Wagtails, which they also resemble in 

 having short crooked hind-claws. We believe the Meadow Pipit does not wag 

 its tail, or if it does, we have not noticed it. 



According to most writers, the Tree Redstart (Phamicura albifrons) shakes 

 its tail laterally. Upon this point we were doubtful when we wrote our descrip- 

 tion of the species in the British Song Birds, as will be seen on reference. We 

 have, however, somewhere read (we believe in Mr. Blyth's edition of White's 



* See Hewitson's account of this bird. 

 2 L2 



