82 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



especiaHv in Hampshire (including the Isle of Wight), Surrey and Sussex ; spar- 

 ingly in the valley of the Thames ; perhaps in some of the Midland Counties ; 

 and, on the sole authority of Mr. C. Dixon, in the Rivelin valley, in the extreme 

 south of Yorkshire. It has been observed in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk ; while 

 in Suffolk a few probably breed." 



Respecting its occurrence in Heligoland, Gatke saj-s that only two 

 instances are recorded, "it having on one occasion been obtained by Reyners, and 

 on the other observed by myself, on May 31st, 1851, hopping about in the thorn- 

 hedge of a neighbouring garden at only a few paces distance. Unfortunately there 

 being other gardens behind the hedge in question in which people were occupied 

 at the time, I was unable to shoot the bird." 



The adult male above is dark smok}- brown, deeper and more slate-coloured 



on the head, wings dark brown, the coverts, inner secondaries, and primaries with 



pale brown outer margins ; tail dark grey, the two outside feathers with white 



outer margins and tips ; under surface chestniit reddish, shading into white at the 



centre of lower breast and abdomen ; under tail -coverts gre3dsh ; bill deep horn 



brown, base of lower mandible yellowish ; feet pale brown, iris and eyelid saffron 



yellow. The female is smaller than the male and the underparts are paler. After 



the autumn moult the chin, throat, breast and flanks are spotted and streaked 



with white : birds of the j^ear are paler above and whiter below than the female. 



The Dartford Warbler is an extremel}^ restless, but at the same time a 



skulking bird ; Seebohm's description of its habits can, I think, hardlj^ be improved 



on ; he sa}'S : — " In summer the Dartford Warbler lives almost entirely in the furze 



bushes ; hence its local name of Furze- Wren. In -wanter, though it may often be 



seen in its summer haunts, the necessitj- of procuring food prompts it to visit 



the turnip-fields, or to range along the coast. Its long tail and short rounded 



wings do not seem adapted to extensive flights ; but it has nevertheless been twice 



seen on Heligoland. It is seldom seen on the wing. At Biarritz I found them 



frequenting the reeds on the banks of a small lake. The first sight I had of one 



was that of a little dark bird with a fan-like tail suddenly appearing amongst the 



reeds on the opposite side. Occasionally, as we walked on the bank of the lake, 



we heard a loud, clear, melodious pitch' -00 repeated once or twice amongst the 



reeds. The note was so musical that for a moment one might imagine that a 



Nightingale was beginning to strike up a tune. Now and then we saw the bird 



appear for a moment above the reeds, as if thrown up b}- a battledore ; but it 



dropped down again and disappeared as suddenly. I have ven,' rarelv seen so 



skulking a bird ; once only it flew up from the reeds, and perched in a willow- 



near a large patch of furze-bushes. Like most other Warblers this bird is ver>' 



