62 THE BIRDS OF KENT 



GAEDEN WAEBLEE. 



Hijlvia salicaria (Linnaeus). S.N., i., p. 330 (1766). 

 Sijh'ia Iwrtensis (Gmelin). H.N., i., p. 955 (1788). 



Greater Petty-chaps. 



The Garden Warbler being rather an obscure bird, and 

 very shy, more or less keeping to the undergrowth and 

 thickets, is overlooked, and no doubt it is less abundant 

 than the Blackcap in some localities. Throughout the 

 districts visited and the beautiful woodlands traversed it 

 was extremely rare during the summer of 1906 ; the first 

 heard and seen was on May 5, and appeared to have 

 arrived at the same time as the Blackcap, in the 

 Bilsington district. In the Bulletin of the B.O.C., 1906, 

 the arrival of the Garden Warbler in Kent is given as 

 May 7, 1905. 



The Garden Warbler is more often than not mistaken 

 for the female Blackcap and the larger Whitethroat, 

 The nest and eggs of the Blackcap and Garden Warbler 

 in many instances are so much alike, both in material 

 and structure, and the similarity of eggs, that many 

 expert collectors hesitate before deciding to which they 

 belong. 



There is a peculiar coincidence of dates in the arrivals 

 at Shooter's Hill, Kent, given by Mr. M. Hutchinson in 

 the Zoologist, 1844 : " The lovely, modest, drab-coloured 

 Garden Warbler arrived on May 7 (1844) ; his long- 

 continued, flute-like song is the softest and sweetest of 

 all our Warblers. On May 2, 1846, I heard the 

 melodious song of the Garden Warbler. I was more 

 than ever struck with the purity and rich sweetness of 



