82 Rev. H. B. Tristram on the Ornithology of Palestine. 



precisely correspond. It has been already mentioned that the 

 eggs of all the species bear a very strong family likeness, though 

 each is distinct at a glance. 



H. elaica is the most common species in Palestine, frequenting, 

 however, chiefly the warmer valleys and the plains of Jordan. It 

 commences its nest immediately on its return. This is a very 

 neat, compact structure, of a deep cup-shape, its depth equalling 

 its diameter, formed of fine grass and strips of bark, and tightly 

 lined with thistle-down and vegetable cotton. It is placed two 

 or three feet from the ground, in a fork of the small Solanum 

 sanctum, or on the twigs of a tamarisk or oleander, containing 

 four or five eggs, of salmon-tinted white ground, with purplish 

 spots and streaks like those of H. pallida and H. olivetorum. In 

 markings they resemble those of H. polyglotta, but have not 

 their rich pink ground-colour. Its note is soft and melodious, 

 something like our Lesser Whitethroat ; and the male often in- 

 dicated the nest by singing continuously, concealed in a tree 

 close by. Our first recognition of Upcher's Warbler was from 

 finding a nest in an orchard under Mount Hermon, from 

 which a bird stole off, which I took to be H. elaica, till I 

 noticed the eggs to be of a rich salmon ground and almost as 

 large as those of the Olive-tree Warbler. I waited till the bird 

 returned, and then secured both parents, when I ascertained 

 that I had got hold of an exactly intermediate species. Its note 

 is unlike that of H. elaica ; and it frequents very different locali- 

 ties, the uplands of Hermon and Lebanon, in the vineyards and 

 oak-coppices. The nest was usually placed in a bush of Vitex 

 agnus-castus, or Linden tree, never more than a yard or two 

 from the ground, neat and conspicuous. We found this bird 

 very abundant in its restricted localities. Its eggs most resem- 

 ble those of i7. po/yy/o^/« in ground-colour, but are twice the 

 size, I think that for beauty they are unrivalled among the 

 whole family of Sylviads. The bird has been described by me, 

 as above mentioned. 



With the genus Phyllopneuste for the most part we could 

 only make acquaintance in winter, when our Willow- Wren, 

 Chiff-Chaff, and others positively swarmed in every part of the 

 counti'y, and especially in the Jordan valley. With P. trochilus 



