444 



which being, as I know from personal observation, most truthful, I make no apology for tran- 

 scribing as follows : — " If you have ever watched a common Wren you must have observed that 

 she cocked her tail bolt upright, strained her little beak at right angles, and her throat in the 

 same fashion to make the most of her fizgig of a song, and kept on jumping and jerking and 

 pushing about for all the world as if she were worked by steam ; well, that's the precise 

 character of the Dartford Warbler, or, as we call it, the Furze- Wren. When the leaves are 

 off the trees, and the chill winter winds have driven the summer birds to the olive-gardens of 

 Spain or across the Straits, the Furze- Wren is in the height of his enjoyment. I have seen 

 them by dozens skipping about the furze, lighting for a moment upon the very point of the 

 sprigs, and instantly diving out of sight again, singing out their angry impatient ditty, for ever 

 the same. Perched on the outside of a good tall nag, and riding quietly along the outside, 

 while the foxhounds have been drawing the furze-fields, I have seen the tops of the furze quite 

 alive with these birds. They are, however, very hard to shoot, darting down directly they see 

 the flash or hear the cap crack, I don't know which. I have seen excellent shots miss them 

 while rabbit-shooting with beagles. They prefer those places where the furze is very thick, 

 high, and difficult to get in." 



The food of the present species would appear to consist entirely, or nearly so, of small 

 insects of various kinds ; but it is well possible that during the winter season it may vary its 

 food somewhat, especially as insects are then more difficult to procure ; and Mr. Blyth states that 

 it will eat blackberries. Mr. G. Dawson Rowley surmises that it may probably dig in the 

 ground in search of food when insects are scarce above ground. This gentleman writes (Ibis, 

 1859, p. 329) as follows: — "On the Gth of April, 1859, I saw a cock lately killed: the beak of 

 this specimen was quite denuded of feathers on the under mandible, in the manner of the Rook, 

 to which it bore a strong resemblance. Mr. Swaysland and 1 compared the beak with that of 

 one killed the previous autumn: this was well clothed; and we could only explain the circum- 

 stance by supposing the bird to dig in the ground as does the Rook ; during frost the earth 

 would be soft at the roots of the furze. I am told that this appearance of the under mandible 

 is common to specimens killed in spring." 



The nest of the Dartford Warbler is said by Montagu to resemble that of the Lesser 

 Whitethroat, being built of the same materials, and, like that, rather slightly constructed. I 

 received many nests with eggs from Hampshire, all taken late in June, which reminded me 

 somewhat of the nest of the Lesser Whitethroat ; but, as a rule, they were more strongly built 

 and rather better finished, though they varied a good deal in finish and compactness of structure, 

 some being quite compactly and firmly built, whilst others were much more slight. I possess a 

 good series of eggs of this bird, which are French white, or white with a dull greenish tinge, and 

 the markings are lighter or darker hair-brown or greenish brown ; some of the eggs are very 

 closely spotted all over the surface of the shell, whereas others are only sparingly spotted, 

 except at the larger end, where the markings are almost confluent. In size they average about 

 I % by \ inch. 



The first naturalist who discovered the nest of this Warbler, and published an account of 

 its nidification, as well of its habits in confinement as observed by him, was Montagu, whose 

 notes, though published nearly seventy years ago, have certainly not been excelled by any later 



