WARBLERS. 493 



the Canaries. It is an agile bird, building a globe-shaped nest, placed in thick 

 bushes, and situated from three to five feet above the ground, which is built of 

 stems of grass, lined with fine fibres. The eggs are greenish white, finely spotted 

 with brown. The subalpine warbler is full of activity, and flits about the bushes 

 catching insects. The adult male has the upper-parts slaty grey, the wings are 

 brown, with pale edges, the tail brown, with more or less white on the outer 

 feathers, and the throat and breast chestnut, shading into paler chestnut on 

 the flanks, and to nearly white in the centre of the breast. 



spectacled This pretty little bird (S. conspicillata) is another Mediterranean 



Warbler. species, resident in some parts of its habitat, and in others a summer 

 visitant. A migrant in the north of Spain, it is there somewhat shy and retiring, 

 flitting about the roadside in a furtive, uneasy fashion, and quite solitary. The 

 spectacled warbler builds its nest in a small bush about a foot from the ground, 

 and the eggs are white, blotched with green. The short, sweet song has been 

 compared to that of the goldfinch. The adult male has the crown slaty grey, 

 shading into greyish chestnut on the centre of the back; the wings are dark 

 brown, edged with chestnut, the tail-feathers dark brown, the outer ones being 

 partially pied; while the chin is white, fading into slaty grey on the throat, 

 which again fades into vinous red on the breast and flanks. 



Sardinian Another South European bird is the pretty black-headed Sar- 



warbier. dinian warbler (S. sarda), an active, restless species, partial to the 

 neighbourhood of undergrowth. It builds in a branch of some tree, generally at 

 a small distance from the ground ; and constructs its nest of blades of grass and roots 

 lined with fine bents. The eggs are greenish white blotched at the larger end 

 with greenish grey. This warbler is common in the pine- woods around Cannes, as 

 also in the gardens near the sea ; and its habits have been compared to those of the 

 whitethroat. The male sings from a bush, and then darts off in a jerking flight into 

 the air still singing ; while the old birds, like the blackcap, simulate the appearance 

 of being injured when they find their young endangered, trailing their wings in 

 the dust and exhibiting the greatest distress. The song is not unlike that of a 

 garden- warbler, but is more intermittent. The plumage of the adult male is slate- 

 grey above, shading into black on the nape, head, and ear-coverts ; the wings are 

 dark brown edged with grey, and the tail is dark grey tipped with white, the 

 throat being white fading into greyish white. 



The orphean warbler (S. orphea) is one of the larger represent- 

 Orphean Warbler. r . -% . ' . . ' \. . 



atives or the group in Europe, which it visits in April, not continuing 



its journey north of the Baltic. Mr. Seebohm writes that " the song is louder than 

 that of the blackcap, but I thought it somewhat harsher. Its alarm-note is very 

 loud, as loud as that of the blackbird. In the Parnassus I found it very common, 

 and obtained thirteen nests between the 3rd and 21st May. They were easy to 

 find in the bushes which were scattered over the rocky ground above the region of 

 the olive and the vine ; but when we got into the pine-region they disappeared. 

 My friend Captain Verner informs me that he has found nests of this bird in Spain 

 placed near the summit of young cork-trees, about twelve feet from the ground. 

 The nest is a tolerably substantial one and deep, composed of dry grass and leafy 

 stalks of plants. Inside it is built of finer grasses, and lined sparingly with thistle- 



