THE FURZE-WARBLERS. 199 



body vinous chestnut, the abdomen pure white ; the feathers 

 of the throat and fore-neck tipped with hoary white, these tips 

 forming a faint moustachial streak along the cheeks ; under 

 tail-coverts ashy grey, with hoary margins ; under wing-coverts 

 and axillaries dark slaty-grey ; bill dark brown, with a pale base 

 to the lower mandible ; feet and claws pale brown ; iris orange 

 yellow. Total length, 5 inches; culmen, 0-5; wing, 2'o; tail, 

 2-4; tarsus, 075. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male in colour, but paler below, 

 inclining more to cinnamon-rufous than chestnut. Total length, 

 5 inches ; wing, 2*0. 



Winter Plumage. Much darker than in summer, being more 

 of a sooty brown, the hoary white tips to the feathers of the 

 throat more distinct, these wearing off a good deal during 

 the breeding season. 



Young. Dusky chocolate-brown above, the edges of the 

 wing-coverts and quills more rufous-brown ; under surface of 

 body pale tawny buff, the sides and flanks being sooty brown, 

 the throat clearer tawny buff. 



Range in Great Britain. A resident bird in the southern coun- 

 ties, having been known to breed in nearly every one of them 

 from Kent to Cornwall, and it is even said to occur in the 

 midlands, its most northern breeding record being one on Mr. 

 Dixon's sole authority in the neighbourhood of Sheffield. As 

 Mr. Howard Saunders very properly says, it is such a skulking 

 bird that it may very easily be overlooked even by a practised 

 observer. In many parts of the south of England it has be- 

 come much rarer of late years, having been apparently ex- 

 tinguished by the severe and prolonged cold of some recent 

 winters, such as that of iSSi. 



- Range outside the British Islands. The Dartford Warbler may 

 be said to be a bird principally of the Mediterranean, whence 

 it extends into France. It is common in most parts of Spain 

 and Portugal, as well as in Southern France, but it does not 

 appear to be resident in any part of Europe east of Italy, 

 though it has been recorded from Palestine and Lower Egypt. 

 In the Balearic Islands, as well as in Sardinia and Corsica, and 

 also in Liguria its place is taken by the Sardinian Warbler, 



