BLACKCAP. 421 



a regular summer-visitant to the neighbourhood of Dublin, 

 and it has at different times been met with in several other 

 parts of the island, as, for example, near Belfast and Lough 

 Neagh, in the counties Wicklow, Waterford and Cork, and 

 even near Tuam in Galwa}^ — not a few of these instances 

 having happened in winter, while it is known to have bred 

 in the county Tipperary. 



This bird \asits also every country in Europe. In Norway 

 it is scarce, but it breeds in most of the southern and western 

 districts so far as Trondhjem. In Sweden its northern limits 

 are much the same as those of the Garden-Warbler, but it is 

 less common than that species. In Finland it is not plentiful 

 but has been observed at Uleaborg. Herr Meves found it 

 pretty numerous at several places in north-western Russia, 

 and in the south of that country it is said to be one of the 

 most common birds, breeding near Odessa and in the Crimea. 

 The Zoological Society received specimens from Trebizond, 

 and it is included among the birds of the Caucasus. De 

 Filippi records it from Delidjan ; but Mr. Blanford did not 

 see it in Persia, and there seems to be no trustworthy evi- 

 dence of its occurrence further eastward. It is abundant, 

 especially during winter, in Palestine where it also breeds. 

 In Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia and the coasts of the Red Sea 

 it is a bird of passage coming from the south in February 

 and March, and in the same character it appears in Algeria. 

 Specimens have been sent from Senegal and the Gambia.* 

 It occurs in the Cape-Yerd Islands, and is very common 

 in the Canaries, Madeira and the Azores. t In Italy, Greece 



* Temminck says also from tlie Cape of Good Hope, and that he has received 

 others from Japan and Java. The first locality is possibly true, but there can 

 be little doubt of his being misinformed as to the second and third. 



+ In Madeira and the Azores a curious variety of the cock (though the usual 

 form is far more abundant) not unfrequently occurs. This was first noticed by 

 Heineken (Zool. Journ. v. p. 75) and was, in January, 1830, described as a dis- 

 tinct species under the name of Carruca hdnektn by Sir W. Jardine (Edinb. 

 Journ. Nat. and Geogr. Science, i. p. 243). It was said to be slightly larger, 

 and to have the black of the cap extending over the nape and shoulders as well 

 as round under the throat, occasionally even as far as the breast ; the back being 

 also darker. A specimen of this variety from Madeira in the British Museum 

 seems to be somewhat smaller than the common run. It has a decided tinge of 



