338 SYLVIA. WARBLER. 



base, and flattened beneath, the lateral equal, the third and 

 fourth united at the base. Claws rather stout, well arched, 

 much compressed, laterally grooved, acute. 



Plumage soft and blended, the feathers ovate, rounded. 

 Wings of moderate length, with eighteen quills, of which the 

 first is minute and pointed, the third longest, the second and 

 fourth very little shorter; the primaries rounded, the secondaries 

 broadly rounded. Tail of moderate length, straight, slightly 

 emarginate, of twelve rather weak rounded feathers. 



The Warblers are small, generally delicate, active, and lively 

 birds, which frequent woods, thickets, hedges, and gardens, 

 feed on insects and small fruits, and amply repay the slight 

 depredations which they commit, by their pleasantly modulated 

 song. Four species occur in Britain, all migratory, arriving in 

 the beginning of summer and departing after the middle of 

 September. This genus differs little from the preceding or the 

 following ; the tarsi, however, are shorter and the bill weaker 

 than in Luscinia ; and the latter organ is wider, and less com- 

 pressed toward the end than in Phyllopneuste, 



