BRITISH WARBLERS 



lower rather more whitish, the iris light brown, and the feet 

 light brownish flesh. 



The colouring of the female does not, as a rule, appear 

 to be so intense. 



The young bird after the first moult is richer on the 

 upper parts, and the white on the under parts is less intense. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



In former times this bird nested regularly in Norfolk, 

 Cambridgeshire and Huntingdon, but since the draining of the 

 Fens these districts have been deserted, and it is now many 

 years since it was last recorded as a breeding species in Great 

 Britain. There is, however, one recent record in this country, 

 a specimen having been obtained on Fair Isle in the spring 

 of 1908. 



Formerly it must have been very plentiful in Holland, but, 

 as in our Fen districts, recent drainage has affected its num- 

 bers and banished it from many localities. Yet it has by 

 no means deserted the country, being still almost common 

 in places. In Belgium it is very rare, but is said to be 

 found near Antwerp. Heligoland possesses no record of it on 

 passage, and from Denmark and North Germany it is absent. 

 In Spain it is common in places, especially in parts of 

 Andalucia. There are records of its occurrence in Portugal, 

 and the south and south-western parts of France are visited, 

 especially the Camargue and the country round Bordeaux. 

 To Italy the bird is a local summer visitor, being found more 

 especially in the Venetian bogs, the Po Valley and in Tuscany ^ 

 From Sardinia there is only one record, but it occurs locally 

 in Sicily and Malta. It is not found in Switzerland, but east- 

 ward becomes plentiful, more particularly in Austrian Galicia 

 and in many parts of Hungary. Probably it occurs in all 

 suitable localities on the lower Danube, but from Montenegro 

 and Greece there are no records. In the southern and 



