SYLVIA, Lath. Tcmm. WARBLER.
Bill straight ; slender, awl-shaped ; the base more ele vated than broad ; point of the upper mandible frequently notched; the under one straight ; nostrils basal, lateral, ovoid, and half-closed by a membrane; tarsus longer than the middle toe; the first quill very short, or almost im perceptible, and the second scarcely exceeding the third ; the great wing-coverts much shorter than the quill feathers.
The members of this family, which comprises most of the small woodland songsters of Europe, are generally of shy and recluse habits. They subsist on flies and worms, which they do not catch when on wing, hut which they pick from the ground, or from trees and bushes, hopping from spray to spray, and visiting the leaves. Most of them visit us in spring, and depart early in autumn ; but a few are stationary, and have two broods in the year. As many of them appear to be in ceaseless motion, they have, by some of our later writers, been denominated Alotacilla. Among them are included most of those small birds which the Italians call Beccaficos, and which are so much relished by the epicures of the south of Europe. At Ce rino, and in many of the villages of Cyprus, the people catch them in great numbers, in autumn, on their passage from more northern countries. After plucking off all the feathers, they boil theni, for a few minutes, in very pure water, then dry them very carefully, and, lastly, put them into vinegar, or Cyprus wine, in which they will keep very well for twelve months. Those thus prepared in Cyprus are exported, in earthen pots, to Marseilles, Leghorn, Venice, and many of the towns of Italy.
S. rubicola, Lath. Motacilla rubicola, Lin.; Saxicola rub cola, 13,:ch. Tern. Stone Chat, Stone Chatter, or Moor titliig Stone-Smith, or Blocky-top. Grey above, reddish beneath, with a white spot on each side of the neck about the size of a linnet, measuring five inches in length, and eight in extent of wing ; inhabits Europe, from Great Britain as far south as Italy and Greece ; occurs also in Siberia, and is stationary in Africa. In France, it is migratory, and partially so in this country ; for we do not see so many of them in winter as in summer. It is a shy and solitary bird, being observed in pairs only dur ing the breeding season, which is early in spring. At that period, it sings very prettily, springing into the air, and suspending itself for some time on wing ; but it ceases its tuneful notes after the young are hatched ; and its ordinary clattering cry has been aptly compared to the clicking of two stones on each other, or to the noise of a mill clack. It chiefly affects hedges, vineyards, moorish tracts
of country, and furzy commons, perching on the extremi ties of vine-props, or the more elevated sprays of bushes, darting at every passing fly. It delights most in dry grounds, flies low, is restless and agile, and feeds on worms and insects. The nest is neatly composed of moss and bents, lined with hair, and sometimes•mixecl with small feathers. It is usually situated in waste-lands, at the foot of hushes, under their roots, the covering of a stone, &.c. ; and the female quits and approaches it in such a cunning and circuitous manner that it is not easily dis covered. She lays five or six eggs, of a whitish green, with small faint rufous spots at the broad end. In defence and protection of their young, both parents are bold and clamorous ; and they are singularly anxious and assidu ous in tending and feeding them, screaming when any per son invades the nest, or when any of their little family venture a first to leave it. In captivity they are dull, languid, and intractable. When fattened, they are reckon ed delicate eating.
S. rubetra, Lath. Motacilla rubetra, Lin. Saxicola rubetra, Bech. Tern. Whin-Chat, or Whin-Chat 1Varbler, Prov. Furze-Chat. Dusky, with white eyebrows ; a white spot on the wings ; throat and breast yellowish ; weighs about four drachms and a half, and is fully five inches in length. Inhabits the same countries, and often the same districts, as the preceding, with which it has many habits in common ; but it is more decidedly migra tory, appearing with us about the middle of April. In Kent, however, and some parts of the south of England, it is occasionally met with in winter. The female places her nest on the ground, among the grass, at the bottom of a bush or mole-hill, very artfully concealed, and compos ed of dried grass and stalks, with very little moss exter nally, and lined with fine dried grass. The eggs are com monly from five to seven, entirely sky blue, according to Latham, Montagu, and others, while Buffon asserts that they arc of a dirty white, spotted with black, and Vieillot describes them as bluish-green, with a few inconspicuous spots at the larger end. During the breeding period, the male sings sweetly, not unfrequcntly suspended on wing over the furze. In autumn, it acquires a considerable degree of fatness, when it is reckoned little inferior to the ortolan for the table ; but it should be dressed on the day that it is killed.