THE MYRTLE BEE.
(Vol. viii., pp. 173. 450.)
Allow me to thank C. Brown for the reply he has sent to my inquiries on this subject. I shall certainly avail myself with pleasure of the permission he has given me to communicate with him by letter; but before doing so, I hope you will allow me to address him this note through the medium of your pages. The existence of the Myrtle Bee as a distinct species has been denied by ornithologists, and as I think the question is more likely to be set at rest by public than by private correspondence, I trust C. Brown will not consider that I am presuming too much on his kindness if I ask him to send me farther information on the following points: What was the exact size of the bird in question which he had in his hand? What was its size compared with the Golden-crested Wren? Was it generally known in the neighbourhood he mentions, and by whom was it known? By the common people as well as others? From what source did he originally obtain the appellation "Myrtle Bee," as applied to this bird? It has been suggested to me that the bird seen by C. Brown may have been the Dartford Warbler (Sylvia provincialis, Gmel.), wings short, tail elongated (this, if the Myrtle Bee is the Dartford Warbler, would account for its "miniature pheasant-like appearance"); a bird which, as we are informed in Yarrell's Hist. of British Birds, 1839, vol. i. p. 311. et seq., haunts and builds among the furze on commons; flies with short jerks; is very shy; conceals itself on the least alarm; and creeps about from bush to bush. This description would suit the Myrtle Bee. Not so the colour, which is chiefly greyish-black and brown; whereas the bird seen by your correspondent was "dusky light blue." Nor again does the description of the Dartford Warbler, "lighting for a moment on the very point of the sprigs" of furze (vid. Yarrell ut sup.), coincide with the account of the bird seen by C. Brown, who "never saw one sitting or light on a branch of the myrtle, but invariably flying from the base of one plant to that of another." In conclusion I would venture to ask whether your correspondent's memory may not have been treacherous respecting the colour of a bird which he has not seen for twenty-five years, and whether he has ever seen the Dartford Warbler on Chobham or the adjacent commons?
W. R. D. Salmon.