416 BRITISH BIRDS. 



a moment above the reeds^ as if thrown up by a battledore ; but it dropped 

 down again and disappeared as suddenly. I have very rarely 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 very active, scarcely resting for a moment, except when 

 warbling its hurried little song from the top of a furze-branch. In many 

 of its habits it reminds one of Cetti^s Warbler. It flits up a furze bush, 

 dodging in and out amongst the side branches in search of insects, perches 

 for a moment on the topmost spray ; but before you have had time to get 

 your binocular onto it it has caught sight of your movement and drops 

 down into the furze bush as if shot. 



So far as is known, the Dartford Warbler is almost entirely insecti- 

 vorous. Mr. Booth (Zool. 1877, p. 59) remarks that it " generally feeds 

 its young on the body of a large yellow moth. I have observed several 

 pairs carrying a light substance in their mouths to the nest ; and on 

 shooting one bird from each of two nests I discovered that the food was 

 the same in both cases. The wings of the moth were removed, and I was 

 not entomologist enough to name the species ; but I observed that the 

 birds hunted for their prey among the lower part of the stems of the 

 furze.'" It can scarcely be doubted that this bird will also eat fruit in 

 autumn. It would seem that it rears two broods in the year, the first 

 clutches of eggs being laid in tiie last half of April and the second in 

 the last half of June. The nest is described as generally concealed in 

 the thickest furze, amongst the dead branches, not many feet from the 

 ground ; but near Gibraltar it is said to nest in the heather. It is a very 

 slender structure, built principally of the finest round grass-stalks and 

 slender stems of vai-ious plants, a good deal of moss being used in the 

 foundation, and small bits of wool being introduced into the lining. The 

 nest is very small and deep ; and though the sides are thick, the materials 

 are so loosely put together that when held up to the light it is possible to 

 see through them. Four or five is the usual number of eggs. In colour 

 they much resemble those of the Whitethroat. The ground is white, 

 sometimes of a greenish and sometimes of a bufiish shade. The spots are 

 darker and more numerous than those of typical eggs of the Whitethroat, 

 and are dark brown, largest and most numerous towards the large end of 

 the egg. The underlying spots are, of course, paler, but in closely spotted 

 eggs are not conspicuous. In size the eggs vary from '7 to -65 inch in 

 length by "53 to -5 in breadth. 



In the adult male Dartford Warbler the general colour of the upper 

 parts is very dark sooty brown, shading into very dark slate-grey on 

 the head. The innermost secondaries, wing-coverts, and quills are dark 

 brown, edged externally with pale brown. The tail is very dark grey, with 

 the outside web and the tip of the outside feathers white. The underparts 



