22 OUR FAVOURITE SONG BIRDS 



fact the Thrushes {Turdind) with their spotted 

 young must justly give up their claim to precedence 

 in favour of the Warblers [Sylviint^), in which the 

 young almost universally very closely resemble the 

 adults in colouration. There can be no doubt that 

 of these two groups the latter is the most advanced 

 from a common ancestor with spotted plumage, and 

 therefore justly claims the post of honour in the 

 present volume. 



Fortunately it is not our province here to attempt 

 to define the limits of the Sylviinae — a group which 

 scarcely two systematists agree as to the species 

 claiming to be included. Possibly with the addition 

 of many forms at present excluded it may yet claim 

 ♦o be elevated to a family rank. For our present 

 purpose it will be most convenient to follow the 

 arrangement adopted by Seebohm in the fifth volume 

 of the British Museum Catalogue of Birds. The 

 Warblers, as there restricted, number several hun- 

 dreds of species distributed over the greater part 

 of the Old World, but only a very small proportion 

 of these can be fairly classed as " British." The 

 " American Warblers " form a distinct family, 

 Minotiltidse, peculiar to the New World, and are 

 characterized, among other things, by having nine 

 instead of ten primaries in the wing. Both groups 

 are essentially of Inter-Tropical origin, and in the 

 majority of instances are able only to exist in colder 

 and temperate latitudes by the exercise of migratory 



