BLUE-THROATED WARBLER. 257 



"The notes of this bird have some resemblance to those of 

 the Whinchat, but are more powerful. While singing, if 

 undisturbed, it perches on the tops of the brushwood or low 

 trees ; but on the least alarm it conceals itself among the 

 low cover. It does not exhibit the quivering motion of the 

 tail peculiar to the Redstarts ; but very frequently jerks up 

 the tail in the manner of the Nightingale and Robin, and 

 while singing, often spreads it. It frequently rises on wing 

 a considerable height above the brushwood, singing, with 

 the tail spread like a fan, and alights often at a distance of 

 fifty or sixty yards from the spot where it rose. On 

 approaching the nest when it contains their young, their 

 notes of alarm or anger resemble those of the Nightingale, 

 but end with a short sharp note instead of the Nightin- 

 gale's croak : the wings are then lowered, the tail spread 

 and jerked up. The Blue-throat commences his song with 

 the first dawn of day, and it may be heard in the evening 

 when most of the feathered tribe are silent. These birds 

 are caught in autumn by snares baited with berries." 



The beak and irides dark brown ; over the eye a pale 

 streak : the top of the head, all the upper surface of the 

 body and wings, uniform clove-brown ; outer edges of the 

 wing-feathers lighter brown : the two middle tail-feathers 

 clove-brown throughout their whole length ; all the other 

 tail-feathers have the basal half bright chestnut, the distal 

 half nearly black : chin, throat, and fore part of the neck 

 and upper part of the breast, ultra-marine blue, with a spot 

 in the centre, which in some specimens is pure white, but 

 in very old males is red ; below the blue colour is a black 

 bar, then a line of white, and still lower down a broad 

 band of bright chestnut : belly dirty white ; flanks and 

 under tail-coverts light reddish brown ; legs, toes, and 

 claws, brown. 



VOL. I. g 



