BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 459 



WARBLER, GARDEN. 



( Sylvia hortensis. ) 

 Order PASSERES ; Family SYLVIID^E (WARBLERS). 



Description of Parent 

 Birds. Length about six 

 inches ; bill fairly long, 

 straight, strong, and dark 

 brown in colour. Irides 

 hazel. Head, neck, back, 

 wings, and tail uniform 

 light brown, slightly 

 tinged with olive ; chin, 

 throat, breast, belly, 



and Under 



GARDEN WARBLER ON NEST. 



coverts dull brownish- 



white, dark on the throat and breast, and light on 

 the belly ; legs, toes, and claws purple-brown. 



The female is similar to the male in appearance. 



Situation and Locality. Generally a few feet 

 from the ground in thorn bushes, briars, brambles, 

 gooseberry bushes, nettles, and peas. Sometimes 

 lower down in coarse grass and taller wild plants. 

 In woods, clumps of trees growing beside streams, 

 shrubberies, thick hedges, orchards, and gardens, 

 sparingly, in suitable localities nearly all over 

 England. It also breeds in one or two parts of 

 Wales, in the southern parts of Scotland, and in 

 different parts of Ireland. 



Materials. Straws, blades of grass, fibrous roots, 

 sometimes a little wool or moss, and lined with 

 horsehair. It is a somewhat flimsy structure. 



Eggs. Four to six, generally four or five, vary- 

 ing in ground-colour from white to greenish-white 



