On the Ornithology of Wilts \_Silviadce~\. 



167 



freshness of their appearance, may be fairly assigned to the period 

 at which the battle of Roundway took place, and unquestionably 

 are the remains of individuals engaged in that memorable fray. 

 No weapon of any kind was found with them, the bodies having 

 evidently been stripped of all military accoutrements before they 

 were committed to their desolate grave. It would appear that the 

 greater part, if not all, of the slain were interred on the spot where 

 they fell; for neither the registers of Bishop's Cannings, Bromham, 

 Heddington, nor of the three churches in Devizes, contain any re- 

 cord of burials connected with the battle: the register of Rowde 

 forming an exception in one instance only. Although no relics 

 were found in the immediate vicinity of the skeletons, the labour- 

 ers in the course of their work dug up a cannon ball weighing 

 2f lbs., a stirrup of curious form, a large spur, from half a dozen 

 to a dozen bullets, and several fragments of iron, the use of which, 

 owing to their decayed and shapeless state, it is difficult to ascer- 

 tain. 



#n % ®ntitlj0lagji of Wilk 



No. 9.— INSES80RES (Pcrchers). 

 Dentirostres (tooth-billed) . Continued. 

 SILYIAD2E (The Warblers). 



' SS||HE very name of this family speaks of warmth and spring 

 ( jUjjl! an( l harmony : and even in the depth of winter, conjures 

 I up before our imaginations lively pictures of the coppice and the 

 i 1 hedgerows bursting into full leaf, radiant in the sunshine; the air 

 redolent with the perfume of a thousand flowers, and filled with 

 [the song of countless birds: it is pleasant to bask for awhile in 

 |3uch a sunny spot, while we pass in review before us the sweet 

 'songsters of the grove, which compose the family we are considering. 



The warblers are the largest family amongst all the birds, I do 

 (inot mean numerically but specifically; and with a few exceptions 

 they may all be found in Wiltshire, no less than nineteen species 

 being either indigenous to our county, or periodical or occasional 



