ON THE OCCURRENCE OF PHYLLOSCOPUS VIRIDANUS 23 



wing measuring 2 '6 inches, and is in brilliant plumage, 

 having just completed the moult. In it the third primary- 

 is the longest, the fourth being next, while the second is 

 intermediate between the sixth and seventh a feature de- 

 scribed as rare in the "Catalogue of Birds" (British Museum), 

 vol. v. p. 45, where that quill is said to be usually intermediate 

 between the. seventh and eighth. The figure of this species 

 in Lord Lilford's " Coloured Illustrations " is not satisfactory : 

 the tarsus as there represented is much too short, the bill is 

 neither long enough nor sufficiently robust, and in colour 

 the under surface is too yellow and lacks the greyish tint 

 which is somewhat conspicuous on the flanks. The figure 

 in the Supplement to Mr. Dresser's "Birds of Europe" (Plate 

 651, Fig. i) is a little better in these respects, but the 

 lower parts are too much washed with green. As compared 

 with other British members of the genus, viridanus may be 

 described as being stout-billed, long-legged, and short-toed. 

 In other respects it is a decidedly green Willow Warbler, 

 with a pale bar across the wing, a conspicuous superciliary- 

 stripe, and the under surface greyish white delicately washed 

 with sulphur-yellow. 



This species has only been recognised as a regular 

 member of the European avifauna during recent years, 

 having formerly been recorded under the name of P. 

 plumbeitarsus, an allied species now proved to be Asiatic 

 and not European. The Greenish Willow Warbler is a 

 summer visitor to Russia, where it occurs as far to the 

 north-west as the Government of Olonetz, and eastwards to 

 the Urals and the northern shores of the Caspian. In Asia 

 it is found during the nesting season in the Altai, Turkestan, 

 Kashmir, and probably throughout the higher Himalayas ; 

 and in winter it is widely distributed in India and is found 

 in Ceylon. Its eggs are, I believe, unknown. 



It is perhaps not quite so rare a bird in the spring and 

 autumn in Western Europe as it is at present supposed to 

 be. It is much liable to be overlooked from its general 

 resemblance to the Common Willow Warbler, and it says 

 much for Mr. Tomison's perspicacity that he recognised his 

 capture as something new to him. The fact that it has 

 twice occurred in spring in Heligoland indicates a return 



