WOOD WREN. 105 



spotted and freckled with rich purplish-brown, and with 

 underlying markings of violet-gray. Usually the mark- 

 ings are pretty evenly distributed, becoming most 

 numerous round the larger end of the egg, often form- 

 ing a zone. Some are much more thickly marked than 

 others ; and on some many of the markings run into 

 large pale blotches intermingled with smaller and darker 

 spots. The underlying markings are both well defined 

 and numerous. Average measurement, '65 inch in 

 length, by '56 inch in breadth. Incubation, performed 

 chiefly by the female, lasts from thirteen to fourteen 

 days. 



DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS : The numerous and rich 

 dark brown surface-markings, and violet-gray underlying 

 spots, readily distinguish the eggs of the Wood Wren 

 from those of allied species breeding in our islands. 

 The absence of feathers in the nest-lining is also another 

 important fact in the question of their identification. 



Family TURDID^E. Genus SYLVIA. 



Sub-family SYLVIIN^.. 



DARTFORD WARBLER. 



SYLVIA PROVINCIALIS (Gmeliri). 

 Double Brooded. Laying season, April and June. 



BRITISH BREEDING AREA : The Dartford Warbler is 

 another very local species, and with a somewhat restricted 

 area of distribution in our islands. It breeds locally 

 from Cornwall to Kent, thence northwards along the 

 Thames valley and through some of the midland districts 



