2i6 Lloyd's natural history. 



in September and the end of October or the first week in 

 November. According to Ur. Pleske, the Yellow-browed 

 Warbler nests throughout the whole of Siberia, from the Valley 

 of the Ob to the Sea of Ochotsk, but has not yet been found 

 in Kamtschatka. It winters in Southern China, the Burmese 

 countries, and in India. 



Habits.— Mr. Seebohm describes his meeting with this species 

 on the Yenesei. He writes : " On the willows of the steep bank 

 of the river little birds were feeding, industriously picking up 

 insects on the naked branches, and sometimes making flights in 

 the air to catch a gnat upon the wing. Presently I heard a 

 plaintive ' weest,' which reminded me of Heligoland j and on 

 shooting the bird I picked up a Yellow-browed Willow 

 Warbler, as I expected. There was quite a little party of 

 these diminutive creatures; and they were so tame after their 

 long journey that I watched them for some time hopping from 

 twig to twig, diligently seeking for food. I was often within 

 four feet of one of them, and could distinctly see the white 

 eye stripe, and the two bars across the wing. . . . But 

 although the Yellow-browed Warbler was thus early in arriving 

 (June 2), it did not appear to be in any hurry to commence 

 building operations. It soon became very common, frequent- 

 ing almost exclusively the pine-forests on the banks of the 

 Koorayika and the Yenesei. It was not particularly shy; 

 and on more than one occasion I watched it for some time at 

 a distance of only a few feet. On one occasion only I heard it 

 make any attempt at a song; this was on the 21st of June. 

 The bird was perched on the extreme summit of a spruce, and 

 stood shivering its wings, uttering a few plaintive notes, most 

 of them poor feeble variations of its call-note. On the 26th 

 of June I was fortunate enough to find its nest. Curiously 

 enough I was this time also in company with a Heligolander, 

 Mr. Boiling, the ship-builder of Yen-e-saisk. Late in the eve- 

 ning we were strolling through the forest between the 

 Koorayika and the Yenesei. As we were walking along a 

 little bird started up near us, and began most persistently to 

 utter the well-known cry of the Yellow-browed Warbler. As it 

 kept flying around us from tree to tree, we naturally came to 

 the conclusion that it had a nest near. We searched for some 

 time unsuccessfully, and then retired to a short distance and 



