io5 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



(Worcestershire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire) south of 

 Yorkshire. A few also probably breed in Cambridge- 

 shire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. I have taken the nest of 

 this bird from a gorse covert by the side of the reservoirs 

 at Hollow Meadows, on the extreme southern borders 

 of Yorkshire. Unknown in Ireland and Scotland. 



Breeding habits: The favourite and, during the 

 breeding season, so far as our islands are concerned, 

 exclusive haunts of the Dartford Warbler are gorse or 

 furze coverts. It is a resident species, and does not 

 wander far from its usual retreats all through the year. 

 It is difficult to say whether this species pairs for life or 

 not ; certainly the birds keep close company always, 

 and may be found nesting season after season in certain 

 favoured places. The Dartford Warbler is very skulking 

 in its habits, and easily overlooked, although the peculiar 

 and very characteristic note of pit-it-chou, or the more 

 Whitethroat-like scolding chay-chay-chay, often reveals 

 its presence when the bird is hidden from view amongst 

 the dense and well-nigh impenetrable cover. The nest 

 of this Warbler is almost invariably built amongst the 

 withered lower branches of the furze, where very often 

 long dry grass is matted round the stems. It is a very 

 delicate and loosely-made structure, composed externally 

 of round dry grass-stalks, bits of withered furze and 

 scraps of moss, and lined with flakes of wool, finer grass- 

 stems, and occasionally a few horsehairs. It is some- 

 what deep, but very net-like and fragile. The parent 

 birds are very skulking at the nest, the hen sitting 

 closely, and when disturbed slipping quietly off into 

 the dense surrounding cover. No social tendencies 

 are manifest in the breeding habits of this species. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Dartford Warbler are four or five in 

 number. They are white in ground colour, sometimes 



