386 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



liUlc halls of wool, but on closer inspection lliey 

 are found lo lie the silken bat's ihat spiders 

 make for the rece])tion of their c^gs. Probably 

 these self-same eggs, together with tlieir i)ro- 

 (lucers, form no small pari of the bird's larder. 

 The eggs are greenish \Yliite, with (ili\c or 

 reddish-brown markings. As a cage bird llie 

 Dart ford Warbler appears to me to be cncin thing 

 one could desire — beautiful in form and colour- 

 ing, graceful and active in movement, and with 

 a pleasing little song. From the fact that they 

 are resident birds they ought to be fairly hardy, 

 at least quite as much so as the various Tits and 

 Wrens which we have kept and moulted for 

 years past with little difliculty. As exhibition 

 birds they will doubtless render a good account 

 of tliemselves." 



On October l.'ilh. I'.tOO, Miss Florence Burn 

 WTote to Canary and Cage Bird Life giving her 

 experience in rearing and keeping the Dartford 

 Warbler, which was as follows : " I hand-reared 

 two in June, 1905. One drowned itself in an 

 attempt to wash a little more than a week after 

 it could feed itself. The other I kepi until the 

 August of 1906, when it was killed by a girl 

 shutting the cage door on its leg and breaking it. 

 This bird was very tame. I used to have 

 nearly every boy in the Church Sunday-school 

 up to see it. It used to come out and jump up 

 their fmgers like going up a ladder. Lots of 

 men came to see it, too, and wanted me to show 

 it. Although I have kept birds almost all my 

 life I never exhibit. Though tame and friendly 

 my bird was very nervous, and drop])ed (dT its 

 ]iereh in a faint when ' Poole's Ditnama,' in a 

 hall opi)osite our house, was firing salutes, but 

 when I held him in my hand he was all rijilil. 

 How I came by the birds was in lliiswise: A bo\' 

 who delivered bread al our house broujiht ine an 

 egg he had found (m the outskirts of his garden 

 (a lodge abmit a mile distant). The nest was 

 buill amongsl nettles, though there was a lot 

 of furze about ; it was built of grasses and \ er>- 

 soft furze. II was so thin one could scarcely 

 expect it lo last while the young were reared. 

 I al once recognised the egg —and it is still in 

 my possession — something like a While-throal's. 

 only smaller and more elongated and the mark- 

 ings muili liner, forming a darker ring round the 

 large end. I asked (he boy lo get me the 

 young, which in (\uv lime he did. Two yoimi; 

 birds and an addled egg. This one I could nol 

 blow, as the outside shell had already began lo 

 peel olT. .\s they were the very first small 

 Sofl-bills I had attempted lo rear I had nothing 

 in the house lo feed I hem on. and no sho]is o|)en, 

 as it was six in the morning. ilowevcr, I 

 chopped some raw beef finely and made some 

 sops, l-'or the lirst half-hour they would nol 

 gape. 1, however, opened Iheir beaks and 



di'o|)pcd in a tiny morsel of beef; after that it 

 was all plain sailing. They were llie easiest 

 Soft-bills to rear I have ever trieil. and 1 have 

 reared many Soft-bills since, including a perfi'ctly 

 White Thrush." 



b'liim these experiences it is plain that the 

 Darlfoi'd Warbler can be ke])t successfully in 

 captivity to a good age on |)ractically any good 

 insectivorous food and a supply of ripe fruit, 

 such as bananas, ])ears, and raspberries, ants' 

 cocoons, live insects, small green caterpillars, or 

 a few well-cleaned live gentles in addition, 

 Ihei'eby \aryini; the diet anil al the same time 

 making it nearly the natural food. .\ box- 

 jiattern cage suits this bird well, such as that 

 for the Nightingale ; but it must be a little 

 closer wired. A similar show-cage to that 

 shown on page 37G is required. Good-coloured, 

 well-matured birds, perfect plumage, and steadi- 

 ness are the essential features for exhibition 

 specimens. 



The ChilTchafT, Phijlloscopus rujus {Bcchst), 

 though one of our most diminutixc songsters, 



is one of the lirst of the summer 

 The 



A, .,-,- . ,./. warblers to reach this ccumtrv ; 



Chiffchaff. ... , , , I .", 



it IS only preceded l)y the 



Wheatear, and arrives often by the middle of 

 March. It nmy be seen early in the spring 

 flitting about in shady woods, bushes and 

 hedgerows, uttering its fussy cliilJ-chafJ, which 

 is practically the sum and substance of its 

 song, though as the breeding season advances 

 it at times sharpens the note into cl}iin>i/-cluwv!/. 

 It is from these notes that it derives its name, 

 and they are so jjlainly uttered as never lo be 

 mistaken if once heard. The notes are sweet 

 and musical, and may be heani for sonu' time 

 before the songster is located, for the bird's 

 molionless attitinle when i>erched on the slender 

 bough of a tall tree, and the similarity of its 

 l>lumage to some of the tints of the surrounding 

 foliage often delude the eye for a considerable 

 time. The nest is generally placed on the ground 

 or on a (ufl or low, stunted bush, or among-st 

 straggling branches, half ((iNci-ed with dead 

 grass. The nesi is as a I'ule halt (lome-shape, 

 and it is a pretty sight to watch the industrious 

 little |)arents flitting ba(l<wards and forwards 

 al tending to the lu'cds of a young biciod. Wc 

 have stood (piiilly within a cou|ile of yards of 

 the nest, and the birds lia\e continued to feed 

 the lillle mites as if no one were near. 



llie colour of the nude bird is — upper parts 

 dull olive-green, shading to oil-green tint on the 

 rump. Wings and tail dusky- or hair-brown, 

 edged with olive-green, the eyebrow streaked 

 with yellowish white, but faint and undenned ; 

 I he underparts |>ale prinu'ose-yellow, shading 

 into olive-green on the side of neck aiul breast ; 

 under wing-coverts rich sulphur-yellow ; feet 



