Ornithology of the Var <SfC. 373 



Black-headkd Warbler. Sylvia melanocephala. 



Called sedentary by Jaubert, but I did not meet with it 

 until April 7th, although then a good many were paired ; 

 however, in 1877, a very mild winter, the birds were at 

 Cannes in January. I did not notice that they stained 

 their faces with the pollen of plants, as at Gibraltar, 

 where it was rather difficult to find one not more or less 

 yellow from contact with the pepper-tree, aloe, mimosa, &c., 

 a fact which probably gave rise to the synonym Sylvia 

 ochrogenion Lindermeyer. Here they do not seem to act 

 thus, and the plants they are likely to meet with would be 

 less tropical. 



Nightingale. Daulias luscinia. 



Daulias luscinia abounds at Valescure, and literally sings 

 down every other bird. If the statement be true that it does 

 not migrate in company, it must take some time for all to 

 come over, but I do not believe this fiction, because within 

 the space of a few days in April the previously silent woods 

 ring with the song, indicating a rush. Of Sylvia atricapilla 

 the migrating range is far less, and many individuals winter 

 in the Riviera, which D. luscinia never does. In December 

 1876 there were a good many Lesser Whitethroats [Sylvia 

 curruca) on the island of St. Marguerite ; it certainly was 

 very early, but it was an open winter, and I do not think 1 

 was mistaken as to the species, though there may have 

 been a few S. cinerea or S. conspicillata as well. 



Dartford Warbler. Melizophilus undatus. " Fauvette 

 pitchoux." 



Among the tall Mediterranean heather, cistus, and genista, 

 which form the knee-deep jungle of the Estrelles, the Dart- 

 ford Warblers find a secure home. In April their black little 

 bodies and long tails — spread perhaps for an instant — as they 

 worm themselves in and out of all the tangle, are to be 

 seen anywhere at Valescure. Always in pairs, the proud 

 male will sometimes rise to the top of a bush or tall Erica, 

 and with swelling throat serenade his sombre partner, " pit- 

 it-chou, pit-it-chou, cha-cha,'' whence the French name ; and 

 to watch M. undatus thus displaying himself is at all times 



