46 FAUNA AND FLORA OF PALESTINE. 



and the slopes of Hermon in April, and commences to build its very neat 

 nest immediately on its return, in low bushes well concealed. It prefers 

 marshy situations. 



The Pallid Tree Warbler appears to be confined to Greece, Asia 

 Minor, Syria, and Persia, and in winter retires to Nubia and Abyssinia. 

 In Western Europe and Central and Eastern Asia it is represented 

 by closely allied species. 



54. Acdon galactodcs. (Temm. Man. d'Orn. i., p. 1S2.) Rufous 

 Warbler. 



Of all the Warblers in Palestine, this is the most attractive and con- 

 spicuous, and perhaps the most abundant in summer. It returns about 

 14th April, and at once overspreads every part of the country. Its bright 

 chestnut plumage, with its black and white tipped tail expanded like a 

 fan, enlivens every thicket and thorn bush. Instead of skulking, it hops 

 in the open, perches on the outmost bough of a bush or the stem of a tall 

 reed, expanding and jerking its tail like a wren. The nest is placed very 

 conspicuously in a tamarisk bush, and invariably has the cast skin of a 

 serpent loosely twined in the interior, perhaps to intimidate the lizards, 

 who prey on the eggs. 



The Rufous Warbler breeds in Spain and Portugal and throughout 

 North Africa as far as Abyssinia. In Greece and Asia Minor it is 

 replaced by the following species : 



55. Aedon familiaris. (Menetr. Cat. Rais., p. 3:2.) Grey-backed 

 Warbler. 



This species, the representative in North Syria, Asia Minor, and 

 Greece, of the Rufous Warbler, to which it is closely allied, can only doubt- 

 fully claim to be of Palestine. Dr. Van Dyk, at Beyrout, showed me a 

 specimen he had shot on the Phcenician plain, and it must pass through 

 Palestine on its way to its summer quarters. It is most remarkable that 

 north of Lebanon I never once detected Acdon galactodcs, so abundant 

 everywhere to the south, while throughout North Syria, Mesopotamia, 

 and Armenia, I never for an hour lost sight of Acdon familiaris, most 

 appropriately so named. 



The Grey-backed Warbler is also found throughout Persia, the 

 Caucasus, Turkestan, and Scinde. 



