56 DARTFORD WARBLER. 
in many parts of Portugal and Spain it is common, and I have 
watched it singing among the orange-gardens of Murcia, while it 
nests in the sierras of the south at elevations of from 1,000 to 
3,000 feet. In Morocco and Algeria it is also resident, and it has 
been recorded from Lower Egypt and Palestine ; but in Europe its 
eastern range is hardly known to extend beyond Italy and Sicily, 
the bird seldom reaching Malta. In Liguria, Corsica, Sardinia, and 
the Balearic Islands, it is to a great extent replaced by a close ally, 
S. sarda, of a nearly uniform grey tint. 
The nest in this country is placed among the branches of the 
thickest furze; but on the Continent, especially in the south, 
broom and heather are selected. The materials are principally 
goose-grass and the softer shoots of furze, with a little wool and 
moss; the second nest of the season being generally more flimsy 
than the first, though on the whole the structure is tolerably com- 
pact. The 4-5 eggs are greenish-white, with olive or reddish-brown 
markings—bolder than on those of the Whitethroat: measure- 
ments ‘68 by ‘5 in. The first nest is built about the middle of 
April ; the second in June or July. The food of both old and young 
consists principally of moths and other insects ; but in autumn wild 
fruits are added. In its habits the Dartford Warbler is a restless 
bird, flitting from the top of one furze bush to another, with a quick 
and very undulating flight, and alighting in an abrupt manner as if 
the action were the result of an after-thought; the long meagre tail 
being spread for an instant, as if to aid the bird in an effort to 
retain its balance. On the wing the adult looks very dark: like a 
black long-tailed Wren. The usual note is a gz#i#-chou, whence the 
French name Pitchou ; but a scolding cha-cha is emitted when the 
bird is irritated. In severe winters its numbers are liable to be 
greatly reduced. 
Adult male: upper parts dark slate-grey ; wings dark brown with 
paler margins to the secondaries ; the long dark fan-shaped tail with 
white outer margins and tips to the two exterior feathers; chin, 
throat, breast and flanks rufous-chestnut in spring, but streaked and 
spotted with white in autumn ; lower breast and belly dull white ; 
bill horn-brown at the tip, yellowish at the base; legs and feet pale 
brown ; irides and eyelids orange-yellow. Length 5:1 in. ; wing to 
the tip of the 4th and longest quill, 2:2 in. The female is rather 
smaller, browner, and shows less chestnut on the breast. The young 
are still paler, and whiter on the lower parts ; irides brown. 
Owing to its short, rounded wing, and comparatively long tail, this 
species has been made the type of a genus, Ale/izophilus, Leach. 
