124 SUB- ALPINE WABBLEB. 



for the best part of an hour, never at more than fifteen paces from 

 me, and found it far more lively and curious than the Grasshopper 

 Warbler, which, after once diving into the recesses of a bush, rarely 

 re-appears. I aftervrards obtained a specimen near the same locality/' 



Mr. Gurney, Jun., ("Ibis," 1871,) records the capture of two at 

 M'zab, and one at Tibrem, in Algeria; and Mr. F. du Cane Godman, 

 ("Ibis," 1872,) quoting from the "Journal fiir Ornithologie" of 1854, 

 p. 453, states that Berthelot found it nesting in Teneriife. Mr. A. 

 B.Brooke, on the Ornithology of Sardinia, ("Ibis," 1873,) says: — "I 

 cannot say whether these Warblers remain in Sardinia during the 

 winter. They are moderately common in summer on the low wooded 

 scrubby hills, and along the river banks. They seem to be more 

 partial to trees than most of the other small Warblers, and are ex- 

 tremely shy and difficult to see. I saw young birds flying on the 

 12th. of May." 



According to Savi it is not often seen consorting with Blackcaps or 

 Garden Warblers, although its song is somewhat of the same character. 

 When the male wishes to sing he glides out of the bushes, and 

 perching on a neighbouring branch, sends forth his clear agreeable 

 melody. When he has finished, or is disturbed, he glides again into 

 the fence, and only makes his whereabouts cognizable by his frequent 

 call-note, similar to that of the Common Wren. These habits fortu- 

 nately render it a very difficult bird to capture. 



It builds twice a year; its nest is globe-shaped, placed in thick 

 bushes from three to five feet from the ground, formed outwardly of 

 straw and withered grass, and within of delicately small roots, rarely 

 lined with wool, and interwoven with the webs of spiders and cater- 

 pillars. It lays four or five eggs, roundish, greenish white, sprinkled 

 with small brown spots, which are most numerous and large at the 

 broadest end. The male relieves the female in incubation during 

 the middle of the day. — Miihle. 



According to M. Moquin-Tandon, as quoted by Degiand, MM. Webb 

 and Berthelot brought from the Canary Islands eggs of this s]Decies, 

 which were exactly similar to those which he took in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Montpellier. 



Von Heuglin, in his "Birds of North-east Africa," says of this 

 bird: — "In the freshly-moulted male, the feathers of the breast and 

 fore-neck have a white border. This Warbler was originally observed 

 by us in the spring in Lower Egypt and North Arabia. Here it 

 arrives about the 18th. or 20th. of March. It keeps close, and in pairs, 

 in low bushes on downs and shrublands, in hedges, and especially in 

 thickets of Arundo. It also takes advantage of opportunity to visit 



