250 cassell's book of birds. 



the most southern part of Europe, but is also met with in Great Britain, Asia Minor, and North- 

 western Africa. Hedges, shrubs, and brushwood are its favourite haunts, and in them it is to be 

 seen hopping briskly about in search of insects, or perching at the end of a branch while it carols 

 forth its blithe song, accompanying the notes by gesticulations with its tail, and a display of the feafhers 

 on its throat. Should its quiet retreat be disturbed by an unusual sound, the vigilant little minstrel is 

 at once silent, and after a momentary survey of surrounding objects from the end of a projecting 

 bough, promptly retires to seek safety amid the densest part of the foliage. " The male," as Mudie 

 informs us, " often hovers about the bushes, uttering his chirping cry, which, being rather feeble and 

 hurried, can scarcely be termed a genuine warble. At these times, from the thickness of the head 

 and neck, the long tail, and the short and rounded wings, the bird has some resemblance to a dragon- 

 fly. A spy-glass must be used when observing him, for if one venture near he instantly drops into the 

 bush, where it is in vain to search for him ; and the alarm-note he then utters is not unlike the cry of 

 some of the field-mice." 



This bird was first seen in England by Pennant, who, having killed his specimens in the 

 neighbourhood of Dartford, gave it the name of the Dartford Warbler. Since that time it has been 

 found on furzy commons in several of the southern counties, and been proved to build and reside 

 throughout the year in this country. Colonel Montague, who met with this bird in Devonshire, gives 

 the following account of his search after its nest : — " Mr. Stackhouse, of Pendennis, assured me that 

 his- brother had observed these birds for several years to inhabit furze near Truro. This information 

 redoubled, if possible, my ardour, and I visited a large furze bush in my neighbourhood, where I had 

 seen them the previous autumn, and upon close search, on the 16th of July, three old birds were 

 observed, two of which had young, as evidenced by their extreme clamour and by frequently appearing 

 with food in their bills. On the 17th my researches were renewed, and, after three hours' watching 

 the motions of another pair, I discovered the nest with three young ; it was placed among the dead 

 branches of the thickest furze, about two feet from the ground, slightly fastened between the main 

 stems, not in a fork. On the same day a pair were discovered carrying materials for building, and, 

 by concealing myself in the bushes, I soon discovered the place of nidification, and, upon 

 examination, I found the nest was just begun. As early as the 19th the nest appeared to be finished ; 

 but it possessed only one egg on the 21st, and on the 26th it contained four, when the nest and eggs 

 were secured. The nest is composed of dry vegetable stalks, particularly goose grass, mixed with 

 the tender dead branches of furze, not sufficiently hard to become prickly. These are put together 

 in a very loose manner, and intermixed very sparingly with wool. In one of these nests was a single 

 Partridge's feather. The lining is equally sparing, for it "consists only of a few dry stalks of some 

 species of carex without a single leaf of the plant, and only two or three of the panicles. This thin 

 flimsy structure, which the eye pervades in all parts, much resembles the nest of the Whitethroat. 

 The eggs are also somewhat similar to those of the Whitethroat, weighing only twenty-two grains ; like 

 the eggs of that species, they possess a slight tinge of green ; they are fully speckled all over with 

 olivaceous brown and cinereous, on a greenish-white ground, the markings becoming more dense and 

 forming a zone at the larger end. The young were considered no small treasure, and were taken as 

 soon as the proper age arrived for rearing them by hand, which is at the time the tips of the quills 

 and the greater coverts of the wings expose a portion of the fibrous end. By experience grasshoppers 

 (which at this season of the year are to be procured in abundance) are found to be an excellent food 

 for all insectivorous birds ; these, therefore, at first were their constant food, and, after five or six 

 days, a mixture of bread and milk, chopped boiled meat, and a little finely powdered hemp and rape 

 seed, made into a thick paste, to wean them from insect food by degrees ; this they became more 

 partial to than even grasshoppers, but they afterwards preferred bread and milk, with pounded hemp 



