At the foot of some beech-tree, on the ground, or more rarely in some
tangled thicket, the nest is built and well concealed by the use of
materials similar to the surroundings among which it is placed. It is
lined with grass and horsehair, but feathers, so freely used by the
Chiffchaff and Willow Wren, are never found. The eggs are white, very
thickly and uniformly mottled with dark red. After the young are hatched
it becomes silent, and leaves us early in September.
The adult has the upper parts of a bright yellowish green, with a
characteristic yellow streak above and behind the eye. The wings are
brown edged with yellowish green. Throat and breast sulphur yellow, rest
of under parts white. Bill and legs brown. Length 5·2 in.; wing 3·1 in.
The larger size and brighter coloration are distinctive of this species.
It is a local bird, but may be found in suitable spots throughout the
United Kingdom. In the north, however, it becomes rarer.
THE RUFOUS WARBLER
Aedon galactodes (Temminck)
This handsome species is only a summer migrant to the South of Spain,
and the few that have occurred in England are merely stragglers carried
out of their course. It has been taken in Sussex and once in Devon, in
all cases during the autumn.
It is a conspicuous bird, like a large pale-coloured Nightingale, and
may be recognised by its fan-shaped tail with black subterminal spots
and white tips. Length 6·5 in.; wing 3·5 in.
RADDE’S BUSH WARBLER
Lusciniola schwarzi (Radde)
This species, which breeds in North-Eastern Siberia and migrates in
winter to China and Burma, has only once been obtained in this country,
namely in October 1898, by Mr. Haigh, on the Lincolnshire side of the
Humber. Mr. Haigh’s attention was drawn to it by the loud and powerful
note. The general colour above is olive brown, tinged with tawny on the
rump. Under parts yellowish white. There is a broad white superciliary
stripe, which ends abruptly in a manner characteristic of this species.
Length 5·5 in.; wing 2·45 in.
CETTI’S WARBLER
Cettia cettii, Marmora
A single example of this species, whose home is in Southern Europe and
the Mediterranean basin generally, was obtained in Sussex in May 1904.
The upper parts are chestnut brown, darker on the wings and tail. There
is a white superciliary stripe. Under parts white, turning to grey on
the breast, flanks, and under tail coverts. Length 5 in.; wing 2·3 in.
THE ICTERINE WARBLER
Hypolais icterina (Vieillot)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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