M e l iz o p h il u s u n d a tu s (Boddaert *).
TH E D A E T FO RD WARBL ER.
Melizophilus Dartfordiensisf.
M e l iz o p h il u s , Leach £.—B il l long and somewhat broad at the base, compressed
in front of the nostrils, the upper mandible overlapping the lower at the sides,
and slightly emarginated near the tip ; nostrils basal, subsupernal and longitudinal,
situated in a large depression ; gape beset with hairs. Eyelids bare and
prominent. Wings feeble, somewhat incurved and not reaching much beyond the
root of the tail, which is long and graduated ; the first primary small, but comparatively
well-developed ; the second shorter than any of the next four ; the
fourth and fifth the longest in the wing. Tarsi strong, scaled in front, and longer
than the middle toe ; outer and inner toes nearly equal; claws moderate.
T h e D a r t fo r d W a r b l e r was first made known to naturalists,
and that as an inhabitant of this country, by Dr.
Latham, who, having obtained specimens on Bexley Heath,
near Dartford, April 10th, 1773, communicated the fact to
Motacilla undata, Boddaert, Table des Planches Enlumineez, p 40 no 655,
fig. 1 (1783).
+ Sylvia dartfordiensis, Latham, Ind. Orn. ii. p. 517 (1790).
t Syst. Cat. Mammals and Birds in Brit. Mus. p. 25 (1816).
Pennant, and by him this species was described and figured
in the fourth edition of his ‘ British Zoology’ published in
1776 (i. p. 329, pi. lvi.). Two years afterwards it was described
byBuffon, and figured in the ‘ Planches Enluminées.’
Since its discovery in Kent, it has been found on many of
the commons and heaths of the southern counties in England
—Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, including the Isle of Wight,
Dorset, Wilts, Devon and Cornwall ; but in all it is one of the
most local birds, and, with an exception as regards Middlesex,
would seem not to breed to the north of the Thames. However,
it occasionally strays further, and is recorded as having
been met with in the counties of Oxford, Worcester, Leicester
and Derby—a pair shot, in the winter of 1840, at Melbourne
in the county last named, and noticed by Mr. Briggs (Zool.
p. 2486) having attained the most northerly limit known for
the species in England ; as a straggler also it lias occurred
in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk. But in these counties
it is very rare, and there is no reason to suppose its
appearance to be otherwise than accidental.
It has not been met with either in Ireland or Scotland,
but it has occurred in Heligoland. There is now undeniable
evidence that this little bird remains in England throughout
the whole year ; and the fact is the more remarkable when
its distribution in foreign lands comes to be traced ; for it
will be seen that its range is very limited, and, being confined
to countries commonly accredited with a mild climate, might
induce the belief that it was not of a hardy nature. Yet
from the days of Montagu, who was the first to observe and
record the chief points in the economy of this species with
that diligence and accurate minuteness which distinguishes
him among all his contemporaries, it lias been continually
seen at every season of the year, haunting either the thickest
furze on heaths and commons, or downs dotted with aged
whitethorns. Montagu shot one from the upper branch of a
furze-bush at a time when the furze was covered with snow ;
and he saw other examples on the same occasion. Rennie,
in his ‘ Architecture of Birds ’ (p. 233) says that ho observed
it on Blacklieatli, suspended over the furze, and sing