Birds. 



8193 



"mavis," was heard by me on the 6th and 15th of August, — a most rave occurrence; 

 as the thrush generally ceases about the end of July for three months, it may be 

 attributed to our extraordinary dull weather in J une and July making the summer appear 

 late to the bird, the temperature being so cold with the continued rain : the birds were 

 perched on a high elm tree in the vicinity of Cheltenham. I mentioned the reverse in 

 the 'Zoologist' for 1859; in a burning July the same species of birds ceased singing 

 in the middle of that month, every thing being prematurely advanced. The only writer 

 that ever underrated the song of the thrush was my old neighbour and acquaintance 

 the author of ' The Journal of a Naturalist,' and being fond of singing birds it seems 

 singular for him to have done so. Mr. Knapp seemed to think that thrushes had no 

 particular notes, and that every bird had a set of notes of its own ; but he did not 

 make allowance for young and old birds, and singing birds are often interrupted in 

 the midst of their tunes, and commence where they left off. He goes on to say, 

 " Harsh, strained and tense as the notes of this bird are, * * * yet they are 

 pleasing from variety." The blackbird he praises for his mellowness of voice, but 

 omits his greatest beauty, plaintiveness : evidently this writer had not a nice musical 

 ear. He mentions one thrush which sang a whole season near his house, which used 

 to repeat "Lady bird, lady bird," but this must have been an old bird with his nest 

 near: the three notes which are mentioned are notes used by every old song thrush, 

 and may as well be sounded "Ti, ti, ne" or " Ti, ti, to," as the fanciful sound of the 

 author in his ' Journal.' Notwithstanding the eccentricity of his opinions, now and then 

 his style of writing is easy and elegant, and his book is a great favourite, having passed 

 through four editions. Thrushes, as I have mentioned once before, sing much louder 

 while nesting — are perched much lower and nearer to their nests in April, May and 

 June — than at other times. When they sing in the third week in October and in 

 December, they may be observed always at a greater distance; but in the breeding 

 season four or five of these birds will frequently sing in opposition to each other close 

 to a dwelling house. — H. W. Newman, Hillside, Cheltenham ; August 26, 1862. 



Number and Eggs of the Dartford Warbler. — As regards the diminution of 

 numbers of the Dartford warbler, 1 can fully confirm the statement of your corre- 

 spondent (Zool. 8160), for having met with them somewhat plentifully, as well as their 

 nests and eggs, in 1859 and 1860, I have these last two seasons only had a very few 

 specimens. There is no doubt that the cold winter of 1860-61 nearly destroyed them. 

 I have an interesting series of their eggs, and have seen many more, but cannot agree 

 with your correspondent that they are similar to those of the whitethroat. Mine vary 

 a good deal, but approach more nearly to those of some varieties of the reed warbler ; 

 they have, however, I think, always a distinctive character about them which pretty 

 readily distinguishes them from the eggs of any other bird. I think the ground 

 colour being very light, sometimes almost approaching white, and a distinctness of 

 spot, chiefly give this; whereas the reed warbler often has the ground colour more 

 approaching green, and the spots more suffused. I find the spots in the Dartford 

 warbler's egg, moreover, often tending towards a well-defined zone at the larger end, 

 though not by any means universally so. — Alfred Crowley ; Croydon, September 16, 

 1862. 



Blue Variety of the Chaffinch's Eggs. — Noticing some remarks in your last number 

 about the blue variety of the eggs of the chaffinch (Zool. 8161) I can confirm the view 

 of your correspondent, that they are not of very rare occurrence. I have seen such in 

 several collections, and have them myself of that colour, but with spots. — Id. 

 VOL. XX. 3 B 



