THE WARBLERS 



1677 



surfaces; while the plumage is generally dark brown, varied with rufous. Belong- 

 ing to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, the accentors usually inhabit 

 mountain ranges, although the hedge sparrow frequents bushes and scrub. Com- 

 mon among the mountains of Europe, the Alpine accentor (A. collaris} inhabits the 

 Pyrenees and Alps, occasionally wandering far from its usual haunts, and reaching 

 the British Islands and Heligoland. It begins to build in May; the nest is round, 

 somewhat shallow, fairly compact, and composed mainly of dry grass stems and 

 very small pieces of moss, the inside being lined entirely with the same kind of 

 moss and the small white feathers of the ptarmigan. The eggs are light greenish 

 blue and unspotted. The adult male has the head and neck gray, the upper parts 



PHEASANT-TAILED WARBLER. 



are dark brown with light brown edges, the wing coverts tipped with white, the 

 throat white spotted with black, and the breast and under tail coverts dark gray, 

 shading into rich chestnut upon the flanks. 



Although generally nesting in the vicinity of dwelling houses, the 

 hedge sparrow (A. modularis), which is very widely distributed in 

 Europe, may be found in Spain living far away in the depths of the 

 forest. Its cheery song is often uttered from the top of a small shrub or spray of 

 hawthorn; and, as it is an early breeder, its eggs are often laid before the leaves 

 of the hedges have sufficiently expanded to save them from being chilled by heavy 

 showers of rain. The nest, built of fine roots and moss, is placed in the shelter of 



Hedge 



Sparrow 



