The Yellow-Browed Warbler. 95 



Scherzando. emp. 



SOPBANO. 



Apparently these little strangers were on migration, as I saw nothing more 

 of them, although I searched the locality daily afterwards. 



I have little doubt that these birds were Yellow-browed Warblers fPhylloscopus 

 supcrciliosus) ; if not, what were they? I do not know if the song of this rare 

 little bird has been described, or if any Ornithologist is acquainted with it; if so 

 the species might be identified with certainty. As well as I remember these birds 

 agreed in size and character with a drawing the late John Hancock showed me, 

 made by him from a specimen of the Yellow-browed Warbler which he shot many 

 years ago and which was the first British specimen : his drawing represented the 

 bird clinging to the flower-head or seeds of a plant, picking the insects from it, 

 and he said it looked so like a Gold-crest that he mistook it for that species ; 

 but, upon shooting it, found he had gained a prize. 



I regret that I had no means with me at the time of securing a specimen 

 out of the four I met with, so as to remove all doubt of the species : I should 

 have had no difficulty in obtaining one or more, had I had my catapult at the 

 time ; this I find the best thing for collecting such birds as Gold-crests, as it 

 damages them so little, and these little birds were so tame that I could easily 

 have got one or two of them." 



Since writing the above, Mr. Frohawk obtained skins of the Yellow-browed 

 Warbler for illustration on our plate of that species, and at once recognized them 

 as the species which he and his wife had seen; thinking, however, that it would 

 be as well to make assurance doubly sure, he showed her the drawing for the 

 plate as well as the skins, without making any remark; and, directl}- she saw them 

 she said — " Why those are the same as the little birds which we saw hopping 

 about in the hedge iu Devonshire." It is therefore clear that Mr. Frohawk was 

 not mistaken in his original opinion, and that these four specimens may be con- 

 fidently added to the list of Yellow-browed Warblers met with in Great Britain. 



Some years later, in the autumn, I watched one of these birds for a consider- 

 able time going over a large rose-tree in search of insects, in ni}^ Beckenham 

 garden: it was quite near the back of the house, and with a pair of opera glasses 

 I was able to identify it with certainty. 



A2 



