and in some very old birds pearl white; the head, neck, and
back, smoke-grey; the ear-coverts almost black ; quill-feathers
blackish brown, the tertials edged with lighter brown;
tail-feathers blackish brown, except the outer feather on each
side, which is nearly white; chin, throat, breast, and belly,
nearly pure white, the latter tinged with red as far as the
vent; sides and flanks tinged with grey; under surface of
wing and tail-feathers grey; legs, toes, and claws, lead colour.
The whole length five inches and a quarter. From the
carpal joint to the end of the primaries, two inches and five-
eighths : the first feather very short; the second feather
rather shorter than the third or fourth, which are equal in
length, and the longest in the wing.
The female is not quite so large as the male ; the grey
colour of the head and neck is tinged with brown; the ear-
coverts not so dark in colour, and the white of the under
surface of the body is less pure, being clouded with grey.
Young birds resemble the female, and have the eyes
reddish hazel.
The vignette below represents the nest of this bird.
WOOD WARBLER.
TH E WOOD WARBLER.
J NS ESSO RES.
DEKTIROSTRES.
Sylvia sylvicola,
Motacilla trochilus,
Curruca sibillatrix,
Sylvia ,,
Wood Warbler, P enn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 512.
,, Wren, Mont. Ornith. Diet.
Yellow ,, B ewick, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 264.
Wood ,, F lem. Brit. An. p. 70.
,, ,, S elby, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 224.
,, ,, J enyns, Brit. Vert. p. 110.
,, ,, Gould, Birds of Europe, pt. i.
Bee-fin Siffieur, T emm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. 223.
S ylvia. — Generic Characters— Beak straight, slender, conical, pointed,
slightly notched at the tip; sides compressed ; base furnished with fine hairs.
Nostrils basal, lateral, oval. Wings, with the first quill very short; the second
shorter than the third, the third the longest in the wing. Legs, with the tarsi
longer than the middle toe ; toes, three before, one behind ; the outer toe
joined at the base to the middle toe.
T h e W ood W a r b l e r , though called Motacilla trochilus
by Gilbert White of Selborne, was clearly distinguished by
him from the two most nearly allied species, and particularised
in his letters to his friend Pennant in the year 1768,