ORDER PASSERES. 85 



by M. Vieillot, from the beauty of its song. The fowlers of 

 Paris call it bretonne. It does not frequent thickets, but is 

 fond of perching on the top of middle-sized trees. It is al- 

 ways lively, perpetually in motion, and sings even while in 

 search of food. Its voice has less brilliancy of tone than that 

 of the atricapilla, but it is equally melodious, and the bur- 

 thens of its song seem to possess greater variety. Its cry, 

 when it is disturbed, is the same, and it frequently repeats it 

 when alarmed for its oifspring. 



The nest is usually exposed on the hedges above-men- 

 tioned, or on large shrubs, and is rarely found elsewhere. 

 It is of no great consistence, loosely constructed, so that the 

 light appears through the interstices, composed externally of 

 the stalks of plants, and furnished with horsehair Avithin. 

 It is neither very large nor deep, the eggs are four in number 

 usually, marbled with two shades of brown, on a ground of 

 sombre and dirty white. 



The Hawk-like Warbler (S. Nisoria) is found in Ger- 

 many, and in Piedmont, on its passage. It frequents coppices 

 on plains, hedges, and bosquets which surround meadows, or 

 border on them. Its nest is usually in the thickest bushes ; 

 it is composed externally of plants and small roots, internally 

 of horn and cattle-hair. The eggs are four, of a whitish 

 gray, sown with irregular and confluent spots, of a reddish 

 ash, and leaden gray. The cry of this warbler resembles 

 the sound with which the nightingale preludes its song ; it 

 is the least agile of all the warblers ; its motions are awkward 

 and heavy, but its flight is extremely rapid. During the 

 season of re-production, it is observed to elevate itself in a 

 right line in the air to the height of fifteen or twenty feet, 

 the head being raised, and the tail perpendicular ; it then 

 stops, descends slowly, clapping its wings, and flutters for 

 a moment above the bush which it has just quitted. 



The Accentor, or Alpine Warbler, made the type of a 

 new genus, by Bechstein, was long ranged under the head 



D 2 



