DARTFORD WARBLER. 345 



cheeks, neck, back, and upper tail-coverts, greyish black ; 

 the wing-coverts, wing, and tail-feathers, blackish brown, 

 with rather lighter-coloured edges ; the chin chestnut 

 brown, with specks of dull white ; throat, breast, and 

 sides, chestnut brown, without spots ; the edge of the 

 wing between the carpal joint and the spurious wing- 

 feathers, white ; belly white ; under surface of the wings, 

 under tail-coverts, and the under surface of the tail-feathers, 

 slate-grey ; the tail in shape cuneiform, the outer feathers 

 on each side being three-eighths of an inch shorter than 

 those in the middle, and edged as well as tipped with 

 lighter grey ; legs and toes pale reddish brown ; claws 

 darker brown. 



Whole length rather more than five inches, the tail- 

 feathers alone being nearly half the whole length of the 

 bird. The wing very short, from the carpal joint to the 

 end of the longest primary only two inches : the first quill- 

 feather very short ; the second equal in length to the 

 seventh : the third equal to the sixth ; the fourth and fifth 

 also equal, and the longest in the wing. 



Females and young birds are more tinged with brown 

 above, and of a lighter rufous colour beneath. The irides 

 of young birds are yellowish. 



By the exertions and perseverance of Mr. Larkham of 

 Roehampton, I am enabled to add in the vignette at page 

 339, an exact representation of the nest of the Dartford 

 Warbler, which was taken from a specimen obtained on 

 Wimbledon Common during the month of May 1838, after 

 watching the birds for some hours every day for a fortnight. 



