THE BARRED WARBLER. 



Sylvia nisoria (Bechstein). 

 Plate 5. 



At one time only known as a rare straggler to the British Islands, this species 

 has during the last few years been met with in considerable numbers, mostly in 

 autumn. 



It breeds in Central and South-eastern Europe, wintering in Central Africa. 

 The Barred Warbler seeks the shelter of thick coverts and thorn-brakes, where 

 the nest is placed. 



This is a more substantial structure than that of most of the Warblers. Seebohm, 

 in his British Birds (vol. i. p. 388), describes it as "composed of dry grass-stalks 

 and roots, with generally some small-leaved plants, cobwebs, thistle-down, or other 

 woolly material mixed with it." The four or five eggs, laid towards the end of 

 May, are buffy-white, marked with grey. 



Its food consists mostly of insects and fruit. 



The song, Seebohm says, "resembles that of the Whitethroat, some of its notes 

 being quite as harsh as those of that bird ; but the finest parts are almost as rich 

 as the warble of the Blackcap." 



The female resembles the male in colour. 



I. 



33 



E 



