WARBLERS, ACCENTORS, ETC. 



385 



The Dartford 

 Warbler. 



and perfect plumage with steadiness are 

 essentials. A show cage similar to that for the 

 Blackcap answers well. Garden Warblers, it 

 is needless to say, like those already treated of, 

 require to be kept in a cosy room during the 

 winter, though it should not be hot or stuffy. 

 The Dartford Warbler, Sijh'ia undata 

 (Saunders), is resident with us throughout the 

 year in the Southern counties, 

 stretching westward as far as 

 Cornwall, and is probably the 

 rarest of our British Warblers. It derives its 

 name from the fact that it was first discovered 

 by Dr. Latham in 1773 near Dartford, in Kent, 

 as a separate species, tliough, owing to its skullv- 

 ing habits, keeping well under cover in its wild 

 state away from habitation on the furze- and 

 heather-clad commons, its numbers may not 

 be quite so limited as is asserted by most 

 naturalists. The bird is rather difilcult to 

 obtain, but could this difhculty be surmounted, 

 no doubt many aviculturists would be delighted 

 to keep specimens in order thoroughly to 

 investigate their nature and habits. We had 

 the pleasure of closely inspecting two living 

 specimens in cajHivity in 1910, one exhibited 

 by Mr. J. Frostick, and the other by the Hon. 

 Mrs. Bourke. Mr. Frostick's bird was then in 

 mature plumage. The general colour above 

 is blackish with a covering of brownish purple- 

 red ; the wings and tail assume a rich clove- 

 brown, and the tail a darker shade than the 

 wings ; the cheeks and auriculars are grey ; 

 the tliroat, upper breast, and flanks are like 

 the back, but the throat-feathers are faintly 

 lipped with tiny white spots, forming a faint 

 streak ; the brownish purple-red becomes paler 

 at the vent, shading to greyish clove-brown on 

 the upper tail-coverts ; the centre of tlie 

 abdomen is white. The tail is of extraordinary 

 length for so small a bird, and is cuneated, 

 having the outer feather tipped with greyish- 

 white, and about half an inch shorter ; the 

 others graduate from tliis ; the iris and eyelid 

 are orange-yellow ; the feet and claws sienna- 

 yellow. The female is similar to the male, 

 but paler and more ashy brown. The total 

 lengtli is 5 inches. 



A more active, sprightly, cheerful little bird 

 it would be impossible to find ; it is quite at 

 home in a cage and a most rare exhibition bird. 

 It is always on the go, elevating its crest 

 the while, and in its hop from perch to perch 

 it is inclined to take the wires as an intermediate 

 l)crch, but this does not appear to injure the 

 plumage, which in the birds we saw was 

 superb, not a feather disarranged or damaged. 

 These birds were hand-reared by a Mrs. Smith, 

 in Hampshire. Mr. Frostick wrote of them in 

 Canary and Cage Bird Life, Oct. 1st, 1909, as 



49 



follows : " The three Dartford Warblers in 

 my ])ossession were taken from the nest 

 on July 15th last, and successfully reared on 

 live ants'-eggs (or cocoons), and then gradually 

 accustomed to my insectivorous birds' food, 

 which is now their principal diet. Like all other 

 birds they are fond of meal-worms, but I am 

 afraid to supply these except in the most frugal 

 manner, as my experience teaches me that they 

 are most dangerous food when given ad lib. 

 for any of the tiny Warblers or Tits ; live ants'- 

 eggs, caterpillars, garden insects, and house 

 flies are the best and safest tit-bits to supply. 

 I have tried them with fruit, and I fmd they 

 readily take to banana, which must be beneficial 

 to them. As the opportunity occurs I shall 

 offer various other fruits and wild berries 

 in season." 



A letter from Mr. Smith, husband of the 

 lady who reared the three birds, published by 

 Mr. Frostick in the same journal, reads : 

 " The Dartford Warbler is one of the earliest 

 birds to pair up. It nests early in April, and 

 again about the end of June or the early part 

 of July — two nests a year. This year (1908) they 

 were later than usual. I found three young 

 ones on August 21st last, the latest I have ever 

 seen any. They feed their young on a little 

 smooth green caterpillar, and spiders that they 

 find on the gorse-lmshes, but what they live on 

 in winter is a mystery to me, unless it is some 

 sort of insect lite underneath the heather or 

 gorse. They are very Wren-like in I heir 

 habits ; in winter they pop up in the heather 

 when you disturb them, and down in the heather 

 again and creep away for yards. The breeding 

 season is the best time to see them ; they are 

 not shy then. The cock bird is especially 

 saucy, with his pretty little song and funny 

 habit of flying in the air, spreading out his long 

 tail. The song is not unlike that of the White- 

 throat. I Ijelievc they are very hardy birds. 

 Their greatest enemy is the frequent common 

 fires, which destroy a great many." 



Mr. Frostick in the same journal described 

 a visit he paid to Mr. Smith to see the 

 birds in their wild haunts — clumps of gorse 

 or furze dotted amongst great stretches of 

 heather and bracken. " Writers of bird books," 

 says Mr. Frostick, " all state that the Dart- 

 ford Warbler's nest is placed in the centre 

 of a furze-bush, but Mr. Smith assures me 

 that all that he has found, and those he 

 showed me, were in the heather about a foot 

 from the ground and al^out ten paces from the 

 gorse, which seems to be used as a playground. 

 The nest is conqiosed of the long stalks of 

 goose-grass, entwined with the young and 

 tender branches of the furze. The outside is 

 ornamented with what at first sight looks like 



