78 SYLVIA 



115. GARDEN- WARBLER. 

 SYLVIA HORTENSIS. 



Sylvia hortensis Bechst., Gemeinn. Naturg. Deutschl. iv. p. 550 (1795) ; 

 Hewitson, i. p. 128, pi. xxxiv. figs. 3, 4 ; Naumann, ii. p. 478, Taf. 

 78, fig. 3. Gould, B. of Eur. ii. pi. 121 ; id., B. of Gt. Brit. ii. pi. 62 ; 

 Saunders, p. 49 ; Lilford, iii. p. 54, pi. 27 ; & salicaria (Linn.) apud 

 Newton, i. p. 414 ; Dresser, ii. p. 429, pi. 53. 



Fauvette des Jardins, French ; Andahuertas, Span. ; Beccafico, 

 Ital. ; Garten-Grasmucke, German ; Tuinfluiter, Dutch ; Haves- 

 mutte, Dan. ; Havesanger, Norweg. ; Tradgdrdssdngaren, Swed. ; 

 LMoherttu, Finn. ; Ssmorodinka, Russ. 



ad. (Norway). Upper parts hair-brown, the wings and tail rather 

 darker ; chin, throat and under parts white, the throat, breast, and flanks 

 washed with buff or buffy brown ; under wing-coverts pale buff, bill lead 

 brown, lower mandible reddish white at base ; legs plumbeous ; iris brown. 

 Culmen, 0'45, wing 3'12, tail 2'32, tarsus 0'8 inch. First quill longer than 

 the third, the second longest. The female does not differ perceptibly from 

 the male except in being a trifle paler, and the young are darker above with 

 a greenish tinge and the under parts are washed with yellowish. 



Hob. Europe, north to the Porsanger fiord in Norway, south 

 to the Mediterranean, and Asia as far east as the valley of the 

 Yenesei ; wintering in Africa, as far south as Damaraland and 

 Cape Colony. 



Frequents gardens and groves, especially where there is good 

 cover, and is shy and secretive in its habits. Its song is sweet, 

 though wild and irregular, and its call note is a deep harsh 

 tack, tack, tack. It feeds on insects and also on fruit and 

 berries. Its nest is usually placed in a bush or a bramble vine 

 and is lightly constructed of grass-bents and rootlets, inter- 

 mixed with a little wool and moss, and lined with fine roots 

 and sometimes a little hair. The eggs, 4 or 5 in number, are 

 deposited in May or June and are pale French white with lilac- 

 grey shell-markings and clouded and marbled with olivaceous 

 brown, sometimes also spotted and speckled with dark brown. 

 In size they vary from 0'6 by 0'53 to 0*87 by 0'6. Only one 

 brood is raised in the season. 



