THE BLACKCAP WARBLER 



Sylvia atricapilla 



With the solitary exception now of the Dartford 



Warbler all the species in the present group are 



summer migrants to the British Islands. The 



excessively local and rare Savi's Warbler was once 



said to be a resident in the fens, but the drainage 



of its favourite haunts has apparently caused its 



complete extermination, and thus left the Dartford 



Warbler in sole possession of the peculiarity of 



permanent residence with us. In our islands 



England and Wales are the Blackcap's head-quarters, 



but even here the southern and south-western 



districts are the most favoured, whilst everywhere 



there is a strongly marked tendency to localness. 



In Scotland and Ireland it is rarer and even more 



locally distributed, especially in the latter country. 



South of latitude 66" in the west, and lat. 57° in 



the east, the Blackcap is generally distributed over 



continental Europe. Southwards it extends to 



North Africa (with the adjoining islands), and east- 

 26 



