BLYTH ON THE BRITISH FRUIT-EATING WARBLERS. $13 



tance by one of these birds sitting on a low branch of the hedge with 

 its breast towards me. It did not stir till I came close to it, when I 

 perceived that there were a pair, exactly alike in colour and size. They 

 were not in the least shy, but sat very still, either on a low branch of 

 an oak tree, or on some part of the fence, and were quite mute. I 

 remained examining them about a quarter of an hour, being at times 

 very close to them. It was in the month of May, at which time the 

 foliage was very thin on the hedges, and very little on the oaks. They 

 were undoubtedly breeding in the neighbourhood, but I left the country 

 the next morning and could not investigate their habits any further. 

 There were gardens at a very short distance from the spot where I saw 

 them/' I cannot but remark, that very much of the above description 

 would apply to the common spotted grey fly-catcher (Muscicapa gri- 

 solci), whose silvery white breast is often very conspicuous as he sits in 

 the sunshine on some bare branch or paling ; the rufous colour of the 

 upper parts, however, shows evidently that it cannot be that bird, and 

 also the circumstance of their having been seen feeding upon fruit by 

 Mr. Sweet, whose description of the warbler perfectly accords with that 

 by the Hon and Rev. Mr. Herbert. I can hardly imagine that the 

 species is destitute of song, all its congeners being so very musical ; 

 and I think the specific name, Bidehensis, which Mr. Herbert has 

 affixed to the bird, might be advantageously exchanged for some term 

 expressive of its habits or plumage ; such names being appropriate only 

 when a species is altogether confined to a particular district. 



The garden-warbler (Ficedula hortensis), though decidedly a very 

 common bird in many parts of Britain, and though a most exquisite, 

 and delightful songster, was nevertheless quite overlooked by our earlier 

 naturalists, and was discovered for the first time in England by Sir 

 Ashton Lever, who transmitted it to Dr. Latham, from Lancashire. 

 In many places near the metropolis it literally abounds, and I well 

 remember, when a boy, the great difficulty I had in learning the name 

 of this charming little bird, which was as familiar to me as the common 

 sparrow, but which nobody seemed to know. On its first arrival in 

 the spring, (which in the older birds is often about the third week in 

 April, though they do not become common until the first or second 

 week in May), its presence is immediately announced by the torrent of 

 melody which it pours forth from the top of some tall pear-tree, or if 

 not in a garden, generally from amid the branches of an elm. The 

 song of the garden-warbler has often been well and accurately 

 described. In the spring he commences usually with some low twitter- 



