78 The Barred Warbler. 



good many of its feathers were knocked out. *The taxidermist who stuffed it 

 inserted a glass eye with a pale yellow iris, a clear proof that he must have seen 

 the bird very soon after it was shot ; otherwise it is not probable that he would 

 have selected a colour which is rare in the family. 



Had the occurrence of this single example been the sole argument in favour 

 of regarding the Barred Warbler as British, I should have treated the species as 

 a mere chance visitor to our islands, and practically ignored it ; but singularly 

 enough, on the very 3'ear after the publication of Mr. Seebohm's observation, 

 three specimens were brought to the notice of Zoologists : the first of these, a 

 young bird, was shot on August i6th, 1884, near Broadford, in the Isle of Skye, 

 by Mr. G. D. Lees ; the second, an immature female, on the 28th of the same 

 month, by the Rev. H. H. Slater, who observed it skulking in an elder-hedge by 

 a potato-garden in some sand hills on the Yorkshire coast, he stated that the bird 

 was very shy and difficult to see ; the third, another immature female, was shot 

 by Mr. F. D. Power, of Brixton, on the 4th of September, from scrub at the base 

 of Blakeney sandhills, Norfolk. The occurrence of three young examples in one 

 year, almost seems to justify the conclusion that this Warbler, when on migration, 

 may frequentl}' visit us ; but, owing to its disinclination to show itself in the 

 open, may have evaded observation. 



In the last edition of Stevenson's "Birds of Norfolk," edited by Thos. South- 

 well, a member of the British Ornithologists' Union, the latter gentleman speaks of 

 an example of the Barred Warbler as having been shot at Blakene}^ after easterly 

 winds on the loth September, 1888, and he says that this bird on dissection 

 proved to be a male. The contents of the stomach consisted largel}- of earwigs. 



This would appear to be distinctly a fifth occurrence of the Barred Warbler 

 upon tlie Britisli coasts : .scrub in the vicinity of saudhills seems to be the most 

 likely haunt in which to seek the species, whilst August and September are the 

 months most favourable for the search ; but it seems a thousand pities that these 

 rare birds should not be captured alive, and their habits in captivity studied in 

 detail. All that can i)c learnt from the stuffed skin of a Barred Warbler has 

 either long been known, or can be equally well studied from skins already in our 

 cabinets ; but reall}' to know something of the nature and peculiarities of a bird, 

 it must be studied, not only flj'ing freely in its native home, but in a good-sized 

 aviary. Lord Lilford has set an example which might, with advantage to Ornith- 

 ological science, be well followed b}' man}' other naturalists, and especially those 

 with means and leisure. 



When on migration the Barred Warbler reaches Heligoland in Ma}- and June, 



• This specimeu is still iu the possession of Mr. Robinson, who resides at Elterwater, Westmoreland. 



