Birds. 8193 



"mavis," was beard by me on the 6ih and 15tli of August,— a most rare occurrence; 



as ihe thrush generally ceases about the end of July for three months, it maybe 



attributed to our extraordinary dull weather in June and July making the summer appear 



late to the bird, the temperature being so cold with the continued rain : the birds were 



perched on a high elm tree in ihe vicinity of Cheltenham. I mentioned the reverse in 



the 'Zoologist' for 1859; in a burning July the same species of birds ceased singing 



in the middle of that month, every thing being prematurely advanced. The only writer 



that ever underrated the song of the thrush was my old neighbour and acquaintance 



the author of ' The Journal of a Naturalist,' and being fond of singing birds it seems 



singular for him to have done so. Mr. Knapp seemed to think that thrushes had no 



particular notes, and that every bird had a set of notes of its own ; but he did not 



make allowance for young and old birds, and singing birds are often interrupted in 



the midst of their tunes, and commence where they left off. He goes on to say, 



" Harsh, strained and tense as the notes of this bird are, * * * yet they are 



pleasing from variety." The blackbird he praises for his mellowness of voice, but 



omits his greatest beauty, plaintiveness: evidently this writer had not a nice musical 



ear. He mentions one thrush which sang a whole season near his house, which used 



to repeat " Lady bird, lady bird," but this must have been an old bird with his nest 



near; the three notes which are mentioned are notes used by every old song thrush, 



and may as well be sounded "Ti, ti, ne" or " Ti, ti, to," as the fanciful sound of the 



author in his ' Journal.' Notwithstanding the eccentricity of his opinions, now and then 



his style of writing is easy and elegant, and his book is a great favourite, having passed 



through four editions. Thrushes, as I have mentioned once before, sing much louder 



while nesting— are perched much lower and nearer to their nests in April, May and 



June— than at other times. When they sing in the third week in October and in 



December, they may be observed always at a greaier distance; but in the breeding 



season four or five of these birds will frequently sing in opposition to each oilier close 



to a dwelling house.— /f. W. Newman, HilLide, Clielteuham ; Auyusl 26, 1862. 



Number and E;/ys of the Dartford Warbler.— ks regards the diminution of 

 numbers of the Dartford warbler, 1 can fully confirm the statement of your corre- 

 spondent (Zool. 8160), for having met with them somewhat plentifully, as well as their 

 nests and eggs, in 1859 and 181)0, I have these last two seasons only had a very few 

 specimens. There is no doubt that the cold winter of 18(30-61 nearly destroyed them. 

 I have an interesting series of their eggs, and have seen many more, but cannot agree 

 wiih your correspondent that they are similar to those of the whiiethroat. Mine vary 

 a good deal, but approach more nearly to those of some varieties of the reed warbler; 

 they have, however, I think, always a distinctive character about them which pretty 

 readily distinguishes them from the eggs of any other bird. I think the ground 

 colour being very light, sometimes almost apjiroaching while, and a distinctness of 

 spol, chiefly give this; whereas the reed wai bier olten has the groundcolour more 

 approaching green, and the spots more suffused. I find the spots in the Dartford 

 warbler's egg, moreover, often tending towards a well-defined zone at the larger end, 

 though not by any means universally so.— Alfred Crowley; Croydon, September 16, 

 1862. 



Blue Variety of the Chaffinch's Effgs.— Noticing some remarks in your last number 

 about the blue variety of the eggs of the chaffinch (Zool. 8161) I can confirm the view 

 of your correspondent, that they are not of very rare occurrence. I have seen such iu 

 several collections, and have them myself of that colour, but with spots.— 7rf. 

 VOL. XX. 3 B 



