566 Mr. C. Dixon on the 



a Dartford Warbler in habits, but mucb more trustful. It 

 would frequently explore the bushes a few feet from where 

 I was standing, daintily hopping from twig to twig, every 

 now and then pausing to utter its sweet little song. When 

 alarmed it would immediately take to the shelter of the 

 deepest undergrowth, reappearing again a few yards away to 

 hop about as unconcernedly as before. When wounded, this 

 little species will try and conceal itself in holes and under 

 leaves. Of the nest and eggs of this interesting bird, and 

 of its habits in the breeding-season, nothing is known. It 

 appears to be a late breeder; for the female specimen I secured 

 had the eggs in the ovary extremely small, and but very few 

 of the birds were in pairs. I suspect this species spends its 

 winters in the Great Sahara, where Canon Tristram dis- 

 covered it, and retires northwards to the hilly districts of 

 the Djebel Aures to rear its young. We were unfortunately 

 under the impression that this bird was *S^. conspicillata, and 

 consequently only brought home a single specimen, a female. 

 A male, wliich I shot and injured too much for preservation, 

 did not strikingly differ in colour. The only examples of 

 this species hitherto known in collections are those obtained 

 by Canon Tristram, all of which are in winter-plumage. In 

 spring- plumage the chestnut-tipped feathers of the head and 

 nape are replaced by ash-grey, bringing the general colour of 

 the upper parts of the bird to that of S. conspicillata. The 

 colour of the underparts, however, is quite sufficient to dis- 

 tinguish the two species, being still more vinous-chestnut on 

 the throat than in the autumn-plumage. Another distinc- 

 tion, which is very conspicuous as the bird flits from bush to 

 bush within a yard of the observer, is the bright yellow iris, 

 that of S. conspicillata and of S. subalpina being said to be 

 brown. Its long tail, distinctly longer than the wing, points 

 to its near relationship to ;Si. sarda and S. provincialis. The 

 measurements given by Dresser in his ' Birds of Europe ' are 

 incorrect. 



Sylvia melanocephala. 



We met with the Sardinian Warbler at Philippeville. 



