MELODIOUS "WILLOW WARBLEK.
MELODIOUS WILLOW WREN.
Sylvia hippoiais, TEMMINCK,
Sylvia. Syha—A wood. Hippoiais—A bird called the Hedge Sparrow.
T H E Melodious Willow Warbler appears to be dispersed throughout
the greater part of the European continent, being found from the
shores of the Mediterranean to Sweden. In France, Germany, Italy,
and Holland it is plentiful.
F. Plomley, Esq., M.D., F.L.S., of Maidstone, in Kent, recorded in
the 'Zoologist,' pages 2228-9, the first occurrence of this bird in Britain,
but only a 'dying visit;' one having been obtained at Eythorne, near
Dover, in that county on the 15th. of June, 1848. It came into the
possession of Mr. Chaffey, of Doddington. also in Kent, who obligingly
drew my attention to it when I saw his excellently preserved collection.
' I t is somewhat singular,' says Mr. Gould, writing before the occurrence
of the above named specimen, 'that this species, so familiar
to every naturalist on the continent, and which inhabits the gardens
and hedgerows of those portions of the coasts of France and Holland
which are immediately opposite our own, should not, like the rest of
its immediate congeners, more diminutive in size, and consequently less
capable of performing extensive flights, have occasionally strayed across
the Channel, and enlivened our glens and groves with its rich and
charming song, which is far superior to that of either of the three
other species of the group.'
' I t s food consists of insects, such as aphides, and other small kinds,
to which arc added caterpillars, e t c'
'Those who have not had an opportunity of listening to the song
of this little tenant of the grove, can scarcely form an idea of its
power and melody, in which respects it is only equalled by those of
the Blackcap and Nightingale.*