56 DARTFORD WARULER. 



in many parts of Portugal and Spain it is common, and I have 

 watched it singing among the orange-gardens of Murcia, while it 

 nests in the sierras of the south at elevations of from 1,000 to 

 3,000 feet. In Morocco and Algeria it is also resident, and it has 

 been recorded from Lower Egypt and Palestine ; but in Europe its 

 eastern range is hardly known to extend beyond Italy and Sicily, 

 the bird seldom reaching Malta. In Liguria, Corsica, Sardinia, and 

 the Balearic Islands, it is to a great extent replaced by a close ally, 

 S. sarda, of a nearly uniform grey tint. 



The nest in this country is placed among the branches of the 

 thickest furze ; but on the Continent, especially in the south, 

 broom and heather are selected. The materials are principally 

 goose-grass and the softer shoots of furze, with a little wool and 

 moss ; the second nest of the season being generally more flimsy 

 than the first, though on the whole the structure is tolerably com- 

 pact. The 4-5 eggs are greenish-white, with olive or reddish-brown 

 markings — bolder than on those of the Whitethroat : measure- 

 ments "68 by "5 in. The first nest is built about the middle of 

 April ; the second in June or July. The food of both old and young 

 consists principally of moths and other insects ; but in autumn wild 

 fruits are added. In its habits the Dartford Warbler is a restless 

 bird, flitting from the top of one furze bush to another, with a quick 

 and very undulating flight, and alighting in an abrupt manner as if 

 the action were the result of an after-thought ; the long meagre tail 

 being spread for an instant, as if to aid the bird in an effort to 

 retain its balance. On the wing the adult looks very dark : like a 

 black long-tailed AVren. The usual note is a pit-it-chou, whence the 

 French name Pitchou ; but a scolding cha-cha is emitted when the 

 bird is irritated. In severe winters its numbers are liable to be 

 greatly reduced. 



Adult male : upper parts dark slate-grey ; wings dark: brown with 

 paler margins to the secondaries \ the long dark fan-shaped tail with 

 white outer margins and tips to the two exterior feathers ; chin, 

 throat, breast and flanks rufous-chestnut in spring, but streaked and 

 spotted with white in autumn ; lower breast and belly dull white ; 

 bill horn-brown at the tip, yellowish at the base ; legs and feet pale 

 brown ; irides and eyelids orange-yellow. Length 5-1 in. ; wing to 

 the tip of the 4th and longest quill, 2-2 in. The female is rather 

 smaller, browner, and shows less chestnut on the breast. The young 

 are still paler, and whiter on the lower parts ; irides brown. 



Owing to its short, rounded wing, and comparatively long tail, this 

 species has been made the type of a genus, Melizophilus, Leach. 



