BLACK-HEADED SARDINIAN WABBLEB. 129 



and habits are best known. It is a restless and very lively bird, and 

 hops continually through the low bushes, or flies from the under branches 

 of low trees to a shrub, in pursuit of flies. It is not in the least shy 

 of the neighbourhood of men, and may be observed all the year in 

 gardens where people are constantly working. In the spring the male 

 sings, while sitting on the outstretched twig of a bush, a feeble and 

 not very melodious love-song; after ending which it creeps quickly 

 back into the bush. The female is seldom seen, and consequently much 

 less known than the male; its call is sharp, and similar to that of the 

 Wagtails, or, according to Malherbe, during pairing time, like that of 

 the CicadcB. 



The Black-headed Sardinian Warbler builds twice or even three times 

 in the year, in a bush or low-hanging bough, not far from the ground, 

 say from one to three feet. The nest is tolerably compact, and is in- 

 geniously built of blades of grass, leaves, with soft woolly plant stems, 

 spiders' webs, and cotton woven together; the inside lined with soft 

 small straws and horse-hair. It lays four or five eggs in the first, 

 and only three in the second brood. The e^^ is greenish grey, tolerably 

 thickly marked with small spots, darker, and forming a wreath round 

 the larger end. 



This bird is an early breeder, as Mr. Savile Reid saw a young 

 bird at Gibraltar on the 6th. of May. Mr. Reid further remarks in 

 his notes: — "April oOth., 1872. The Black-headed Sardinian Warbler. 

 These lively little birds were particularly lively in the Alameda. I 

 saw at least seven or eight pairs as I walked through. This is the 

 commonest Warbler on the E,ock, and very plentiful on the western 

 side. I have not observed it on the Mediterranean side, I saw a 



nest just built in Major Irby^s garden on the 2nd. of April I 



found a nest of this bird near Sand's Magazine (Gibraltar,) on the 

 31st. of May, containing four eggs. The female sat very close, and 

 was in a great state of mind while I was examining the nest. It 

 was built in a pendant branch of a wild olive tree, (apparently a 

 favourite situation for Warblers of this kind,) about twelve feet above 

 the ground, and consequently at a much greater height than is usual 

 with the species. The nest was made of dry bents and a few thin 

 roots, neatly lined with fine grasses, a little down, and one or two 

 long horse-hairs. The eggs were greenish white, blotched at the 

 larger end with a darker shade of greenish grey, and freckled all 

 over with an intermediate colour." 



I have been favoured by my friend the late Mr. Edward J, Tuck, 

 of Wallington Rectory, Baldock, Herts., with the following account of 

 this bird, as observed by him in France: — '■'^ Sijloia melanocephala was 

 VOL. II, s 



