280 AVES. 



Mot. luscinia, L.; Enl. 615, 2; Naum. 74, 2. (The Nightin- 

 gale.) A reddish brown above j whitish grey beneath; the tail 

 somewhat redder. Every one knows this songster of the night, 

 and the varied melody with which it fills the woods. It builds 

 on trees, and does not begin to sing until the young ones are 

 hatched. The male, then, as well as the female, is occupied in 

 providing them with food. 



The eastern part of Europe produces a Nightingale, which 

 is a little larger, and whose breast is slightly variegated with 

 greyish tints. Alot. philomela, Bechst.; Naum. 74, \. 

 The remaining species have the common name of Fauvettes; they 

 are, nearly all, good singers, lively and gay in their manners, con- 

 stantly flitting about in pursuit of insects, and building in bushes, 

 generally in the vicinity of water, among reeds, 8cc. 



I place a species at the head of the list, which is so large that 

 it has been almost always classed with the Thrushes.(l) It is 



Tiirdiis arundinaceus, L.; Sylvia turdoides, Enl. 515; Naum. 

 81, 1. Reddish brown above; yellowish beneath; throat white: 

 a pale streak over the eye; a little less than the Mavis, {Turd, 

 iliacus, L.) and the beak almost as much arcuated. It nestles 

 among the reeds, and feeds almost exclusively on aquatic 

 insects. 



Mot. arundinacea, Gm.; La Petite Rouserolle, Naum. 81, 2. 

 Similar to the preceding in habits and colour, but not so large 

 by a third. 



Mot. salicaria, Gm.; La fauvette de Roseaux, Enl. 581, 2. 

 Still smaller than the last, and the beak proportionably shorter; 

 an olive grey above; very pale yellow beneath; a yellowish 

 streak between the eye and the beak. 



There are also several small Spotted Fauvettes, inhabiting 

 marshes, &c., which were long confounded under that general 

 name, {Mot. nasvia, Gm.) and which are not yet satisfactorily 

 distinguished. (2) 



(1) There are some intermediate Fauvettes between the Mot. arundinacea, Gm. 

 and the Turd, arundinaceus, L., and between the former and the Mot. saUcaria, 

 Gm., so that, in my opinion, it is impossible to separate the latter from the Fau- 

 vettes, although I acknowledge the result is an almost insensible transition between 

 the Thrushes and the Motacillx, just as there is between the latter and the straight 

 beaked Shrikes, and between the Thrushes and the Shrikes with arcuated beaks. 

 All these genera are closely allied. 



(2) See the S. phragmitis, Naum. 82, 1; iS". cariceti. Id. 2, 3 ;S. aquatica. Id. 

 4 and 5;S. Jluviatilis, Id. 83, 1;S. locusiella, Id. 84, 2, o. Compare them with 

 the S. locusiella, Roux, 229; S. Schsetiobejius, Id. 230; & paludicoh. Id. 231, its'. 

 cysticola. Id. 232 ; as well as the figures of Buff., Brisson, Bechstein, &.c. There is 



