THE DARTFORD WARBLER. si 



It is quarrelsome, and drives intruders from the vicinity of its nest." 



" It sings from early in the morning, except during the heat of the day, 

 until late in the evening, and frequently sings when at some height in the air or 

 fluttering from tree to tree." 



Family TURDID^E. Subfamily S YL 



THE DARTFORD WARBLER. 



Sylvia undata, BODD. 



A LTHOUGH this Warbler has been known to breed in Kent, I have never 

 j"~\. been able to be certain of having seen it, though I have sometimes suspected 

 that nests which I have discovered built in furze-bushes, might have been the work 

 of this species : whoever the architect was, she slipped away so quietly into the 

 dense, prickly cover on my approach, that I could not even get a glimpse of her, 

 and only knew of her whereabouts by the movement in the furze. 



Howard Saunders gives the following as the geographical distribution of this 

 species : " Although as a rule a non-migratory species, the Dartford Warbler has 

 been observed in Heligoland ; but it is unknown in Northern Germany, Holland, 

 or Belgium. Rather rare in the Channel Islands, it is found throughout France 

 in suitable localities, especially from the foot of the Western Pyrenees to Provence. 

 In many parts of Portugal and Spain it is common, and I have watched it singing 

 among the orange- gardens of Murcia ; while it nests in the sierras of the almost 

 tropical south coast at elevations of from 4,000 to 3,000 feet. In Morocco and 

 Algeria it is also resident, and it has been recorded from Lower Egypt, and 

 Palestine ; but in Europe its Eastern range is not known to extend beyond Italy 

 and Sicily, the bird seldom reaching Malta." 



With regard to its distribution in Great Britain, this author says : " It is 

 now known to breed in nearly all the southern counties, from Cornwall to Kent, 



VOL. i. P 



