88 
Tke DaHjord Warhler. 
of his native county, is a revelation. In a letter to me he writes : - 
"The Dartford Warbler is one of the earliest birds to pair up. it nests 
early in April, and again about the end of June or the early part of 
July, two nests a year; this year (liUKS) they were later than usual. 
I found three young ones on August 21st last, the latest T have ever 
sf^en any. They feed their young on a little sniootli green caterpillar 
and spiders that th?y find on tlie gorse l)ushes, but what tliey live on 
in the winter is a mystery to me, unless it is some sort of insect life 
underneath the heather or goi-se. They are very Wren-like in their 
habits; in winter they pop up when you disturb them, and down in 
the heather again, and creep away tor yards." 
The breeding season is the best time to see them, they are not 
shy then. The cock bird is especially saucy with his pretty little song 
and funny habit of flying in the air, spreading out its long tail — and 
they liave a long tail considering the si/e of the bird. The song is 
not ludike that of the Whitetliroat. The l)reeding plumage is very 
haiulsome ; 1 cannot exactly describe the colour, but I should call it a 
deep chestnut. I l)elieve they are very hardy birds. Their greatest 
enemy are the frequent common fires, which destroy a great many." 
The Dartford Warbler derives its name from the fact that it 
was first discovered on Bexley Heath, near T)artford, in Kent, by Dr. 
Latham, in April, 1773, since then it has been found so near London 
as BlacklxNith and Wimbledon Common, needless to say it lias long 
since left those ])usy centres, but is still in its favourite localities more 
plentiful than is generally supposed. 
Yarrell says . " On the J'Airopean Continent this bird does not 
go up so high as Germany or Holland ; it is found in France; but is 
most plentiful in Provence, Spain, and Italy." In describing the 
bird, he says : " The beak is slender and nearly black, particularly 
towards the point ; the edges of the upper mandible, and the base of 
the lower mandible, reddish yellow; irides, reddish; head, cheeks, 
neck, back and ujiper tail coverts, greyish black ; the wing coverts, 
wing and tail feathers, blackish brown, witli rather lighter coloured 
edges; the chin, chestnut brown with specks of dull white ; throat, 
breast and sides, chestnut brown ; belly, white; under surface of the 
wings, under tail coverts, and under surface of the tail feathers, slate 
grey ; the tail in shajie, cuneiform, the outer feather on each side being 
f of an inch shorter than those in the middle. Whole length rather 
more than 5in., the tail feathers alone being nearly lialf the whole 
length of the bird." 
No article on the Dartford Warbler could be complete without 
iucludiug the much copied extract from the " London Magazine of 
