CHAPTER V. 



DENTIROSTRES (tooth-billed}, continued. 

 SILVIAM: (THE WARBLERS). 



THE very name of this family speaks of warmth and spring and 

 harmony : and even in the depth of winter, conjures up before- 

 our imaginations lively pictures of the coppice and the hedgerovv-s 

 bursting into full leaf, radiant in the sunshine ; the air redolent 

 with the perfume of a thousand flowers, and filled with the song 

 of countless birds. It is pleasant to bask for awhile in such a 

 sunny spot, while we pass in review before us the sweet 

 songsters of the grove, which compose the family we are con- 

 sidering. 



The warblers are the largest family amongst all the birds, I do 

 not mean numerically, but specifically; and with a few exceptions 

 they may all be found in Wiltshire, no less than nineteen species 

 being either indigenous to our county, or periodical or occasional 

 visitants ; but some of these species bear such a close resemblance 

 to one another, and are so extremely difficult to distinguish from 

 one another, that they will defy any but the most accurate and 

 painstaking observer to discover their personal identity. Their 

 principal characteristics are elegance and gracefulness of form, 

 a delicate structure and slenderness of bill, and a sweetness and 

 richness of note ; and though some may be disposed to cavil 

 at the statement, I am inclined to the opinion that in a greater or 

 lesser degree all the species composing this family partake of 

 these three characteristics. 



