CIFATS AND WARBLEliS. ^h 



rcfldish brown, appearing, in certain lights, to be marked with indistinct 

 tninsvorso bands. The chin, tliroat, and breast are pale yellowish brown, 

 tho hitter slightty mottled with darker brown. Tlio legs, toes, and 

 claws are pale brown. The weight is about tliroo drachras and a 

 quarter, and the length a little over five and a half inches. The female 

 is a little smaller, but of a similar colour, (wcept that the bi'cast is 

 wthout the darker spots. The young are of a yellowish brown, spotted 

 above with dusky brown. 



SAVrS WARBLER, 



(■Sylvia luscinoides.J 



I'l.ATE VI.- — FIGURE V. 



A SYLVAN bird resembling the nightingale, is the meaning of tho 

 scieiilillc name of this species. It was first observed in Tuscany by 

 Professor Savi, who published a description of it in the year 1824, 

 but since that time has been found in France and other parts of 

 southern Europe, and also in Africa. In England the earliest specimen 

 recorded was captured in 1825, in the mai'shes near Norwich, by the 

 Rev. James Brown; and others were procured from the fens of Cam- 

 bridgeshire by Mr. J. Baker, and presented to the British Museum in 

 1840. Although for a long period considered extremely rare, it is now 

 known that this Warbler is abundant in the marshy districts of both 

 Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire, where it breeds regularly every 

 season. 



Of extremely shy and wary habits, this species hides among the 

 reeds and bushes on the least alarm, rarely permitting an intruder on 

 its resorts to obtain more than a brief glimpse of its form and plumage. 

 Its nest is placed on the ground, and formed of the leaves of the 

 reed, curiously wound round and interlaced, but is without any other 

 lining. The eggs are dull white, speckled with pale red and light 

 grey. Its note is peculiar, and has been compared to the whirring 

 noise made by a spinning wheel. 



The plumage of the upper parts of the male is reddish brown, the 

 tail is of the same colour, faintly barred with darker bands. The 

 chin and throat are almost white, and the breast pale reddish brown, 

 becoming darker on the under surface of the body. The legs, toes, 

 and claws are pale brown. Total length five inches and a half. 



