DARTFORD WARBLER 



497 



as a British bird on the evidence of a Kentish specimen, may be 

 recognised when adult b\' the dark leaden grey of the upper, and the 

 rufous chestnut of the lower surface, as well as by the white margins 

 and tips of the two outer feathers of the relatively long and fan-shaped 

 tail, and the pale edges of the secondary quills of the dark brown 

 wings. It is, however, important to bear in mind that in autumn the 

 breast-feathers become streaked and spotted with white. The hen, 

 which is slightly smaller than the cock, shows a tinge of brown above 

 and is less distinctly chestnut below. In both sexes the eyes and 

 eyelids are orange-yellow. Young birds are still browner than the 

 hens, slightly mottled above 

 with buff, and tinged on the 

 breast with the latter colour, 

 while the flanks are brown. 



Unlike all the members of 

 the group hitherto noticed, the 

 Dartford warbler, as well as 

 its near relative the Sardinian 

 warbler {Sylvia melanoccpJiala^, 

 is to a great extent a resident 

 species, its permanent range 

 extending from Itah^, through 

 PVance, to Spain, and thence 

 northward to England, where 

 it is chiefly found on the 

 heather and gorse commons 

 of the southern and eastern 



counties. Its migrator}- range includes, however, Egypt and Syria. In 

 England it is very rare in the midland and northern counties (although 

 it has been recorded from Yorkshire), and it is entirely unknown in 

 both Ireland and Scotland. 



An example of the Sardinian warbler {S. melanocephala, or 6". 

 sardii) was taken near Hastings in 1907. 



For the greater part of the year the Dartford warbler conceals 

 itself in the furze or heather, and it is only during the winter months 

 that it makes its appearance in the open country. Two unusually 

 hard winters in the 'eighties are stated to have caused the exter- 

 mination of the species in several parts of Hampshire and Dorsetshire 

 where it was previously common. The nest, which in Sussex and 

 Kent is placed deep down in a furze-bush, has been described as very 

 like that of a whitethroat, but smaller and constructed of sprays of 



2 K 



DAKTFOKD WARBLEK. 



