598 



WHITE-THROATED WARBLER. 



darkest; the latter in some tinged with rosy : tail 

 similar to the quills ; its outer feather white, ex- 

 cept the base of the inner web : legs pale brown : 

 female like the male. A variety is mentioned by 

 Colonel Montagu which has the irides paler yel- 

 low ; the whole of the upper parts rufous brown ; 

 the coverts of the wings and quills next the body 

 deeply margined with bright rufous ; throat and 

 belly silvery white; breast inclining to brown, 

 darker on the sides ; in other respects like the 

 above. Dr. Latham also mentions a variety which 

 is considered a distinct species by BufFon : it dif- 

 fers from the first in being fulvous throughout : it 

 was found in Provence. 



This is a very common species in England : it 

 is a bird of passage, arriving with others of this 

 genus in the spring, when it enlivens the hedges 

 with its song, which is attended with a peculiar 

 motion of the wings : it is very shy : its nest is 

 placed two or three feet from the ground ; it is 

 made of goose-grass, lined with fibres and moss, 

 with a few long hairs, but is of a very flimsy con- 

 struction : the eggs are four or five in number, of a 

 greenish white colour, speckled with light brown 

 or cinereous : during the spring the feathers on 

 the head are generally erected, forming a slight 

 crest: its principal food consists of insects and 

 berries, but in the autumn it will eat cherries and 

 other ripe fruit ; and in France during that season 

 it destroys the fig and olive : in the autumn it 

 departs from this part. 



