GREATER KAMCHATKA NIGHTINGALE 315 



black line; sometimes the scarlet feathers fringed with white; upper breast 

 brownish gray, shading into buffish gray on lower breast and flanks, and into 

 nearly white on the centre of abdomen; under tail coverts buff. 



Adult female. Differs from the male in having no scarlet or black on the 

 chin and throat; these parts being dull white; breast buffish brown; lores brown- 

 ish black; cheeks pale brown; the superciliary line indistinct and the mousta- 

 chial streak dull. 



A bird collected by Dr. Stejneger (1885) on Bering Island on 

 January 29, 1883, presumably a young male, "has the throat and 

 chin white, with some mottlings of the lovely scarlet, which adorns 

 these parts in the adult male." 



La Touche (1920) says: "The female of this bird is generally 

 described as having the throat white, but old females have sometimes 

 a considerable amount of the ruby colour. Two of these birds taken 

 at Shaweishan on the 8th of May and 27th of October have the 

 throat as richly colored as young males, while two others taken in 

 the same locality on the 1st of May and 29th of October have the 

 edges of the feathers just tinted with red. The general plumage 

 of these birds is that of the adult female." 



Behavior. — Hamilton M. Laing (1925) writes: 



This charming little thrush, with the ruby-jewelled throat, and the song 

 that is said to be of the angels, was quite common and nesting in the woods 

 surrounding Petropavlovsk. It was also found high on the hilltops where it 

 could be called out of every alder tangle. Though in pose like most thrushes 

 while hopping on the ground, when they perched they elevated the tail jauntily 

 and took on a "perky" appearance. They were never seen taking elevated 

 perches and were always found in the shrubbery. They were the first to answer 

 the decoy call of the bird in distress and always followed the deceiver for a time 

 to voice mild-mannered protest. When alarmed or curious the male often 

 gave a little whistle, a note not heard from any American thrush. 



Vaughan and Jones (1913) say that "the Siberian Ruby-throat 

 is rather a rare winter visitor" in southeastern China, "but it has 

 such very skulking habits that it is seldom seen. One was shot at 

 Kong Mun from a boat in mistake for a rat, as it was running among 

 some reeds close to the water's edge." 



All writers seem to agree that the Kamchatka nightingale is one 

 of the most popular cage birds among the Chinese, on account of its 

 brilliant scarlet throat and its charming song. Capt. H. A. Walton 

 (1903), writing of the birds of Peking, says: "Many Ruby-throats 

 were caught during May. They seem to thrive well, for a time at 

 least, on a mixture of finely chopped up raw meat and bean-flour 

 paste; but a bird that has passed safely through the winter in cap- 

 tivity commands a good price." 



Voice. — Although everyone praises the angelic song of the Kam- 

 chatka nightingale, no one seems to have given a very good description 

 of it. But Mr. Laing (1925) says of it: "At the time of our arrival, 



