Wood Warbler. 163 



attention to the points of difference between these closely allied 

 species, and his 19th letter to Pennant is entirely occupied with 

 this subject. It is with him ' the Larger Willow Wren/ and he 

 describes it as a trifle larger than its congeners : he also calls atten- 

 tion to its remarkable tremulous note, in consequence of which he 

 calls it the ' Sibilous Pettychaps.' In France it is generally known 

 as Sec-fin Siffleur; and Sibilatrix, ' one that hisses or whistles/ is 

 the specific name by which it is generally known to Continental 

 naturalists. This is certainly to be preferred to the somewhat 

 unfortunate name it bears here ; for Sylvia, ' a wood bird/ and 

 Sylvicola, ' an inhabitant of woods/ is not a very happy or de- 

 scriptive title. This is the Regulus non cristatus major of 

 Willoughby ; but Montagu having in 1790 carefully observed this 

 species at Easton Grey in North Wilts, furnished an account 

 of it in 1796 to the Linnean Society, under the name of Sylvia 

 sylvicola. 



In Malta it is styled Bti-fula, 'father of a bean/ from its 

 partiality to the olive and carob trees, where it finds both shelter 

 and the insect -food suited to its taste. It also frequents the fig 

 and almond trees when in leaf, the colour of whose foliage mostly 

 assimilates to its own plumage, and renders it not easy of 

 detection when at rest ;* hence its scientific name. It is not so 

 numerous as the other species, but it visits us annually, and I 

 have occasionally met with its nest near Devizes, as well as in my 

 own parish of Yatesbury. Mr. Morres says that it is not common 

 in his district near Salisbury ; but that it has been recognised at 

 Mere and Stourton, and near Warminster. 



55. WILLOW WARBLER (Sylvia trochilus). 



This is by far the most abundant of the genus, and may be 

 seen in every plantation and hedgerow, but chiefly in meadows 

 intersected with streams and watercourses which give birth to 

 osiers and willows, for amongst these it delights to revel. In 

 addition to the points of difference mentioned above, it far 



* Mr. C. A. Wright's ' Birds of Malta/ in Ilia for 1864, p. 70. 



112 



