WHITETHEOATS, BLACKCAP, GARDEN-WARBLER 41 



warblers rather longer. In this they differ from tits and birds build- 

 ing in holes generally, the young of which do not leave the nest till 

 well able to fly ; consequently young warblers are peculiarly helpless, 

 and the mortality amongst them at this age is appalling. 



As summer merges into autumn and insect food becomes scarce, 

 the Sylviinae remove to gardens and hedgerows where soft fruits and 

 berries abound ; old and young alike may be found in little parties, 

 mixed with others of the warbler tribes. Mr. Howard says of black- 

 caps and lesser- whitethroats " There is no better place to study them 

 during the last few weeks before they leave this country than among 

 the elder bushes. Here they come in search of food, and here they 

 have full scope for their exuberant spirits. At this time of the year 

 they lesser-whitethroats are far more noisy than during the spring 

 and summer : not that they sing, . . . but they are frequently uttering 

 their call-note, which is harsher than the one used in the spring, and 

 bears so much resemblance to the corresponding note of the black- 

 cap at this period, that it is sometimes most difficult to distinguish 

 between them. The blackcaps appear to be afraid of their pugnacity, 

 and more often than not retire from their presence." a 



By and by as September advances their numbers decrease, and 

 we wake up one morning to find the whole company of light-hearted 

 minstrels has vanished, scared by 



"The autumn scented haze 

 That hangeth o'er the hollow in the wold." 



DARTPOBD- WARBLER 



[E. L. TURNER] 



The Dartford-warbler being a unique species is best treated apart 

 from the other members of its genus (Sylvia). It was first identified 

 from a specimen shot on Bexley Heath, near Dartford, in Kent, on 



1 British Warblers. Howard : " Warbler, Lesser-Whitethroat," p. 15. 

 VOL. II. F 



