THE DARTFORD WARBLER 155 



impossible to get a picture of a nest in a bush when 

 this is swaying through gusty blasts. 



We had not been on the furze-covered common 

 more than half an hour when we saw a Dartford 

 warbler. This was the hen bird, and she resented 

 our visit to her nesting quarters by calling angrily 

 tuez, tuez, every few seconds. This is a pretty note, 

 quite different to any call uttered by any other British 

 warbler. It is much softer than the whitethroat's 

 chez, chez, and cannot be confounded with it. We 

 sat down near the nest, and waited for the bird to 

 show herself. Presently she appeared not four yards 

 away, and sat on the top of a low bush for a few 

 seconds, then dropped back to the thick cover, all 

 the time calling and working nearer to us. I caught 

 sight of her several times as she hopped from bush 

 to bush ; but she seldom showed herself for long. 

 I think it is always extremely interesting to look 

 for the first time on a bird which is so little known 

 as the Dartford warbler. Our larger, rarer birds are 

 generally well known, or at least their habits are, 

 yet a small warbler, which seldom shows itself, and 

 is at the same time one of our rarest breeding birds, 

 seems to be entirely overlooked by ornithologists. 

 In my opinion, it is the smaller birds which are the 

 most interesting. 



We were surprised to find that this nest contained 

 no eggs. When Mr. Gilroy found it seven days 



