300



Dr. E. Hopkinson,



The translation closely follows the original as a whole, though

a few verbal alterations have been necessary and a few gaps left,

where occur references to other pages of the book or to species which

I cannot definitely identify, and I have also, in order to suit the

account to English readers, altered the names, giving instead of the

German and Latin names of the original, the ordinary English and

modern scientific names of the species concerned.


“The Willow Wren, whose pretty, gentle, and long-drawn-

out song, with falling cadence towards the end, we so often hear in

the open in summer, is frequently kept in captivity, and is not so

very difficult to meat off or keep in health, . . . especially


if allowed to fly loose in the room, but otherwise it has no

great value, as it cannot be given rank among the mocking or

imitative birds. The Wood Wren gives us a simple song, opening

with a strain which reminds us of that of the Willow Wren, and then

ringing out in louder tinkling notes with a low humming accompani¬

ment. . . . The Chiffchaff is our smallest European bird’


except the Goldcrest and Wren, but in spite of this is not difficult to

meat off and fairly easy to keep, especially loose in a room ; its song

is a simple but pleasing one, particularly when heard ringing forth

in some gloomy wood. Bonelli’s Warbler (P. bonellii), essen¬

tially a bird of the mountains, is of but little interest to the bird-

fancier; its song is similar to the Wood Wren, but shorter and of

low T er pitch. Becently the Bohemian bird-dealers have again and

again been offering for sale as great rarities specimens of the

Yellow-browed Warbler (P. stcperciliosus), tiny little birds, not

much larger than our Goldcrests, which they also somewhat resemble

in colour and markings. Their home is in Asia, but they have many

times wandered as far a3 Germany. This little feathered visitor tc

us is only mentioned here incidentally, as it can have but little

interest from the bird-keepers’ point of view, being on the one hand

but accidentally and very rarely come by, and on the other difficult

to keep. The Melodious Warbler (Hypolais polyglotta ) is a native

of Southern Europe and North-West Africa, which from time to

time comes into the bird market from Dalmatia. It is, however, so

uncommon that one knows but little of its song and other charac¬

teristics. Two other species from the South, the Olivaceous



