and some other British Birds. 32»3 



ter residence with us. It is, however, more probable that 

 this species may be indigenous to us, and that it has fre- 

 quently been mistaken for a variety of the Hen Harrier, 



Sylvia Dartfordiensis. 



Ind. Orn. ii. p. 517- 31. 



Dartford Warbler. Lath. Syn. 



In a paper which I had the honour to lay some time since 

 before the Linnean Society, some notice was taken of the 

 discovery of this little bird in the southern parts of Devon- 

 shire : and I there remarked that, as it had been so frequently- 

 observed to be a winter inhabitant, a circumstance not fa- 

 vourable to its being a migrative species, (as it was said to 

 breed in Provence, on the continent so much further south,*) 

 I was not without hopes of ultimately proving it indigenous 

 to this part of England. 



My opinion that this species of Warbler bred with us, was 

 greatly strengthened by a letter which I had the pleasure of 

 receiving from a scientific friend in Cornwall, well known in, 

 the literary world f, who assured me that his brother had 

 observed these birds for several years to inhabit furze, near 

 Truro ; that last year, as well as the present, they were plen- 

 tiful during the summer season ; and that he had ndt only 

 seen them every month in the year, but had observed young 

 ones soon after they had left the nest, though his search for 

 the nest and eggs had been in vain. 



This information redoubled, if possible, my ardour, and I 

 visited a large furze common in my neighbourhood, where I 

 had seen several the preceding autumn ; and upon close 

 search on the sixteenth of July, three pair of old birds were 

 observed, two of which had young evidently by their extreme 

 clamour, and by frequently appearing with food in their 

 bills. The boldness and excessive garrulity of one pair in- 



* Provence is situated between 33 and 34 degrees north latitude, and 5 

 and 7 east longitude ; and therefore, as these birds have been also found in 

 England in latitude 5 l,and west longitude 5, there can be no doubt but all the 

 intermediate bpace, taking in nearly the whole of France, is inhabited bythem 

 more or less, whenever the situation is congenial to their habits. 



f Mr. Stackhouse, of Pendarvis. 



X 2 duced 



