Mr. li. Seebohm on the Ornitholoc/y of Siberia. 9 



loochistaii the second primary is shorter than tlie seventh, 

 but longer than the eighth. More evidence must, I think, 

 be collected before we admit S. affinis even to be a satisfac- 

 tory subspecies. 



Phylloscopus borealis (Blasius). 



A fortnight after the arrival of Phylloscopus trochilus, P. 

 tristis, and P. superciliosus I had given up P. borealis in 

 despair, when suddenly it arrived in great numbers, and be- 

 came the commonest of the four species. The song is almost 

 exactly like the trill of the Redpole, but not quite so rapid, 

 and a little more melodious. Its call-note is generally a single 

 monotonous dzit, but sometimes made into a double note by 

 dwelling on the first part, d — z, zit. It is less restless than 

 the other Willow-Warblers, by no means shy, and is easy to 

 shoot. When I left the Arctic circle it had probably not 

 commenced to breed ; but on the 6th of July I had the good 

 fortune to shoot a bird from its nest at Egaska, in lat. Q7°. 

 The eggs are larger than those of our Willow-Warbler^ s, pure 

 wliite^ and profusely spotted all over with very small and very 

 pale pink spots. They were five in number. The nest was 

 built on the ground in a wood thinly scattered with trees, 

 and was placed in a recess on the side of a tussock or little 

 mound of grass and other plants. It was semidomed, the 

 outside being composed of moss, and the inside of fine dry 

 grass. There was neither featlier nor hair used in the con- 

 struction. I did not see this bird further north than lat. G9°. 



Phylloscopus trochilus (Linn.). 



" Sylvia icterina, Vieill.", Eversm. (nee Vieill.), Add. ad 

 Pall. Zoogr. Rosso- As. fasc. iii. p. 14 (1842). 



Phyllopneuste eversmani, Bp. Consp. Gen. Avium, p. 289 

 (1850). 



It was with very great pleasure that I heard the familiar 

 song of this European bird on the 4th of June on the Arctic 

 circle, in the valley of the Yen-e-say', so much further east 

 than it has hitherto been recorded. I afterwards found it 

 common extending as far northwards as lat. 70°. As this bird 

 has never been found in India, it would seem probable that 



