BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



description from Meyer's * British Birds': "The 

 heak is blackish brown ; irides brown ; the whole of 

 the upper plumage of this bird is a clear olive- 

 green, including the head, nape, back, scapulars and 

 upper coverts of the tail; the wings and tail are 

 brown, each feather bordered with yellowish white ; 

 the green colour of the back extends over the sides 

 of the breast; a brown line extends before and 

 behind the eye, above which is a streak of bright 

 yellow; the cheeks are yellow, tinged with brown 

 and green ; the chin, breast and flanks are bright 

 yellow, softening into the purest white on the 

 lower part of the breast, belly and under coverts 

 of the tail ; the beak is pale brown ; the edges 

 and inside of the mouth are ochre -yello w ; the 

 legs and feet are brown." The male and female 

 are alike. 



The eggs of this species are, according to Hewit- 

 son, very difficult to get much more so, he says, 

 than those of the Willow Warbler : he describes 

 the eggs of the present species as having a white 

 ground, thickly freckled all over with claret- coloured 

 undefined spots; but they are subject to some 

 variety, both in colour and shape. 



WILLOW WARBLER, Sylvia Trochilus. The Wil- 

 low Warbler, or " Willow Wren," as it is more 

 commonly called, is (except the Chiifchaif) the 

 smallest of our summer visitors, like so many of 

 w hich, it arrives in this country about the middle of 



