Perching Birds. 57 
of the body is sandy' buff, whiter on the throat, breast and abdomen, with a wash 
of cinnamon on the sides of the body. 
In Algeria and the countries where the Rufous Warbler nests, it is a lively 
bird, though quick of observation, and retiring to concealment on finding that its 
movements are being watched. It has a habit of flirting its tail, the white-tipped 
feathers of which render it somewhat conspicuous. The nest is usually' placed in 
the fork of a tree, made of dead tamarisk shoots or such like material and lined 
with feathers with usually' a piece of snake’s skin added ! The eggs, from three to 
five in number, are of a dull white, streaked and spotted with reddish-brown, and 
violet-grey, especially near the larger end. 
The Wood- Warbler ( Phy/loscopus sibi/ator). 
Willow-Wrens or Leaf-Warblers ( Pliylloscopi ), which 
come to the British Islands in summer. It is a 
beautiful little bird, and its ways are so graceful and 
butterfly-like, that anyone who has once seen the 
species in life in our woods in spring, is not likely to 
forget it. Just when the leaves are coming into life, 
when the woods and plantations shew their greenest 
tints, the Wood- Warbler makes its appearance, the 
males preceding the females by some day's. When the 
latter arrive, the nest is actively prepared on the 
ground beneath the budding trees, and the male can 
be heard singing at intervals of a few moments from 
the boughs above the selected spot. The nest is 
built on the ground, and is partially' domed, the 
structure being of grass lined with horse-hair, but not 
with feathers, like the nests of our other Willow- 
Warblers. The eggs are from five to seven in 
number, white, with very distinct spots and blotches 
of purplish-brown and violet-grey, generally collected round the larger end 
of the egg. 
The Wood-Warbler is not only distinguished from its relatives by its large size, 
but is yellowish-green above, and has a clear yellow eyebrow. The breast and 
abdomen are white, and the first or bastard-primary does not reach to the end of the 
primary-coverts, while the second primary quill exceeds the fifth in length. It breeds 
in nearly every part of Great Britain and is generally distributed throughout 
Europe in the summer, but does not nest in some of the more northern districts. It 
winters in Western and North-eastern Africa. 
The Willow- Warbler (. Phylloscopus trochilus). This is a more dull-coloured 
species than the Wood-Warbler, and may be told at any' age by the wing- 
formula, the second primary being intermediate in length between the fifth 
This is the largest of the 
The Wood-Warbler. 
The Willow-Warbler. 
