112 THE SMALLER BRITISH RIRDS. 



brown; tlie tail dark reddish brown, slightly tinged with olive, except 

 the outer feather on each side, which is white, tinged with brown on 

 its inner edge, and the second, which is tipped with white. The 

 under tail coverts are pale reddish brown; the legs, toes, and claws 

 black. 



The female is about the same size as the male, and similar in 

 colour, but without the rose tint on the breast. 



The nest of this bird is built in hedges and low bushes, or in 

 holes in rocks and walls; sometimes also in the roofs and under the 

 eaves of outhouses and deserted buildings. The eggs, four or five in 

 number, are dull white, mottled with yellowish brown, and spotted 

 with darker brown, chiefly at the larger end. 



The food of the Orphean Warbler consists of insects and berries. 



The scientific title of this species is derived from the Latin, sylvia 

 a wood, and Orpheus, the name of the celebrated musician of antiquity, 

 who charmed the birds of the air and the beasts of the field by the 

 sound of his lyre. 



THE GARDEN WARBLER, 



(Sylvia horlensis.) 

 PLATE VII. FIGURE IV. 



This bird, as both its English and scientific titles indicate, is a 

 lover of the cultivated garden and orchard, but it also frequents 

 woods, shrubberies, and thick hedgerows. It goes by the several 

 names of the Greater Pettychaps, the Garden Fauvette, and Billy 

 Whitethroat. The first specimens found in this country were obtained 

 in Lancashire by Sir Ashton Lever, who made the species known to 

 British ornithologists. It has since been found in the counties of 

 Norfolk, Sufl'ulk, Wiltshire, Devonshire, Yorkshire, Durham, and 

 Northumberland. In Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire it is abundant, 

 and is not uncommonly seen in the market gardens around London. 

 In Ireland a few specimens have been found, but it is there ex- 

 tremely rare. Throughout Scotland it is frequently met with, especially 

 in the wooded parts bordering on lakes and rivers. It does not 

 appear to have been noticed in Wales. It is a resident in all the 

 temperate and southern parts of Europe throughout the summer 

 months. 



