396 Mr. A. L. Butler on Birds observed 



25. Sylvia hortensis (Gm.). 



a. ? . Khor Arbat, 1.5.08. 



*. ?. „ 4.5.08. 



Garden-Warblers were, perhaps, even more numerous than 

 Blackcaps. Their numbers shewed no diminution until the 

 16th of May, when there was a great decrease, and on the 

 18th I noted only a few individuals. 



2Q. Sylvia atricapilla (Linn.). 



a. S- Khor Arbat, 2.5.08. 



Immense numbers of Blackcaps assembled along the 

 coast during the first half of May, together with Barred 

 and Garden -Warblers. These three species seemed every- 

 where, and abundant as the Barred Warblers were, the 

 Blackcaps and Garden-Warblers greatly outnumbered them. 

 I saw very great numbers of this species daily from May 1st 

 to the 11th, and large numbers again on the 14th and 16th. 

 I spent the next few days looking for sea-birds, and saAv no 

 more Blackcaps afterwards. 



27, Sylvia nisoria Bechst. 

 a. S ' Khor Arbat, 4. 5. OS. 

 5.5.08. 

 5.5.08. 

 1.5.08. 

 1.5.08. 

 30. 4. 08. 



The numbers of migrating Barred Warblers which I saw 

 during the first week in May astonished me. During that 

 time the scrubby thorn-bush between the coast and the hills 

 was full of them. Often there were eight or ten in one 

 small thorn-tree, and frequently one could have killed three 

 or four at a shot. Indeed, I twice killed two with the same 

 shot unintentionaVy. For the first five days of May there 

 must have been thousands of them within a comparatively 

 small radius round my camp. Certainly I saw hundreds in 

 a morning, and it was the same in whichever direction I 

 wandered in the bush. On the 6th and 7th of May these 

 great numbers shewed a considerable decrease. From the 



