SYLVIIN.^. 



73 



THE RUFOUS WARBLER. 



Aedon galact6des (Temminck). 



The Rufous Warbler is a southern species, which has been 

 obtained in England, as a straggler, on three occasions. The first 

 example was shot by the late Mr. Swaysland near Brighton on 

 September i6th 1854, and according to Mr. W. Borrer of Cowfold, 

 who recorded it, the bird was a male preparing to moult. On 

 September 25th 1859, after the prevalence for a w-eek of a strong 

 southerly wind, a very thin bird, which had lost its tail, was shot at 

 the Start, in Devonshire, by Mr. W'. D. Llewellyn, who presented it 

 to the British Museum. A third was obtained in a turnip-field near 

 Slapton, Devon, on October 12th 1876, as recorded by Mr. H. 

 Nicholls (Zool. s.s. p. 5179). These occurrences, all in autumn, 

 show that the individuals in question were merely wind-driven waifs 

 from the south ; nor is it likely that many others have escaped 

 observation, the bird being conspicuous by its plumage and habits. 

 It resembles a large pale-coloured Nightingale, with white tips and 

 black spots on a broad fan-shaped tail. 



The Rufous Warbler does not appear to visit France, or even the 



