THE WARBLERS. 



IV THE ORPHEAN WARBLER. SYLVIA ORPHEUS. 



Sylvia orphea, Temm.; Newt. ed. Yarr., i., p. 423 (1873); 



Dresser, B. Eur., ii., p. 411, pi. 64 (1874) ; B. O. U. List 



Br. B., p. 12 (1883) ; Saunders, Man., p. 45 (1889); Lil- 



ford, Col. Fig. Brit. B., pt. xv. (1890). 

 Sylvia orpheus, Seeb., Cat. B. Brit. Mus., v., p. 14 (1881); 



id. Hist. Br. B., i., p. 390 (1883). 



Adult Male.— General colour above slaty-grey, a little clearer 

 on the hind-neck ; wing-coverts like the back ; the bastard- 

 wings, primary-coverts, and quills blackish-brown, edged with 

 ashy-grey ; tail-feathers blackish, edged with ashy, and slightly 

 tipped with white, increasing in extent towards the outermost, 

 which is white along the outer web and at the tip of the inner 

 web for a considerable extent ; head dusky blackish, including 

 the lores and ear-coverts, forming a cap which extends as far 

 as the nape ; cheeks, throat, and under surface of body white ; 

 the sides of the breast and flanks ashy-grey with a slight 

 pinkish tinge, becoming browner on the lower flanks ; thighs 

 creamy-white ; under tail-coverts white, mottled with ashy-grey 

 centres to the feathers ; under wing-coverts and axillaries ashy- 

 white, with greyish bases; bill dark brown with a yellowish 

 base to the lower mandible ; feet and claws leaden-grey ; iris 

 pale yellow. Total length, 6*3 inches ; oilmen, o*6 ; wing, 

 3-1 ; tail, 2*4; tarsus, 0-85. 



Adult Female. — Rather browner than the mnle, and not so dis- 

 tinctly grey; the flanks more isabelline-buff; the breast washed 

 with creamy-buff; the head not so distinctly black as in the 

 male, and in many specimens scarcely to be distinguished from 

 the back in colour. Total length, 57 inches ; wing, 3*15 



Young in Autumn Plumage. — After the first moult, the young 

 birds are very like the old females, but have the quills externally 

 browner ; the head is a little greyer and more dusky than the 

 back, and the black lores and ear-coverts are indicated by a 

 dusky shade. The principal characteristic of the young bird is 

 the colour of the under-parts, the throat being white with a 

 pinkish tinge, the fore-neck and chest rosy isabelline, deepen- 

 ing into clear vinous on the sides of the body, flanks, and 



