DARTFORD WARBLER. 403 



together : the notes are entirely native, consisting of con- 

 siderable variety, delivered in a hurried manner, and in a 

 much lower tone than I have heard the old birds in their 

 natural haunts. This song is different from anything of the 

 kind I ever heard, but in part resembles that of the Stone- 

 chat." 



Besides the parts of England already enumerated, the 

 Dartford Warbler inhabits certain districts of France, being 

 there as local as with us. In the north it seems to be only 

 a straggler, and its most northern limit on the continent is 

 Montreuil-sur-Mer, where, according to Degland, it has been 

 observed. In Anjou and Britany it is more abundant, 

 especially in the department of Finistere, where it appears 

 to sojourn, as also in Provence * and the south generally ; 

 but here, though staying all the year, and inhabiting dry 

 places among heather and broom, it breeds only, according 

 to MM. Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye, in a narrow 

 belt along the coast from the Pyrenees to the gardens of 

 Nice. In the north of Italy it seems to be rare, if 

 known at all, and though it breeds on the Tuscan hillsides 

 is not very common there. It has been said to inhabit 

 Corsica, and it is resident in Sardinia, frequenting the 

 grassy uplands. In Sicily it is rare, but it breeds near 

 Palermo and Catania, and has occurred in Malta. In 

 Greece its appearance has been noticed by Von der Mtihle, 

 and it is said to be found in Asia Minor. Canon Tristram 

 observed it among bushes in the most barren parts of 

 Palestine, and though Dr. von Heuglin says it is rare in 

 Lower Egypt, the Canon also found it abundant in winter 

 among the dayats of the Algerian Sahara, but it would seem 

 only to breed on the mountains, where he took several nests. 

 Mr. Drake says it is common in Morocco, on plains covered 

 with palmetto. It occurs in Portugal, and Prof, du Bocage 

 says that a specimen in the Lisbon Museum was killed at 

 Mafra. Mr. Saunders noticed it in winter in gardens and 



* It was thence that it was made known to Buffon under its local name of 

 Pitchou, but whether this was given to it from its inhabiting cabbage-gardens, 

 as it there does, or for some other reason seems doubtful. 



