BIRDS OF THE HEATH 311 



obliged to get a person to go on the other side of 

 the hedge where it haunted, and then it would run 

 creeping like a mouse before us, for a hundred 

 yards together through the bottom of the thorns : 

 yet it would not come into fair sight, but in the 

 morning early, and when undisturbed, it sings on 

 tlie top of a twig, gaping and shivering with its 

 wings." 



White appears to be the first English naturalist 

 to have determined this species; the older writers 

 confusing it with the Wood Wren, and, curiously 

 enough, in some cases with the Tree Pipit, a bird 

 with which it has little in common. 



The Dartford \\^arbler is one of the few of its 

 race which regularlv braves the winter in these 

 islands. In England its nest is usually placed in 

 the heart of the densest whin-bushes, but in other 

 countries it is sometimes found in the heather. As 

 a species it is extremely local, being mainly con- 

 fined to counties south of the Thames. 



In appearance the Dartford Warbler has certain 

 marked peculiarities which render it easy to be dis- 

 tinguished even when flying. Its short wings and 

 abnormallv long tail, amounting to almost one-half 

 of the bird's entire length (apart from the tail it is 

 one of the smallest British birds), combined with 

 the duskv hues of the upper plumage, at once set 

 it apart from the other warblers. Like the Grass- 

 hopper Warbler it is mouse-like in its movements, 

 and when alarmed, it prefers to hide in the nearest 

 thicket rather than to seek escape in flight. This 

 reluctance is so marked, that in common with the 



