E. HARTERT : BRITISH PECULIAR FORMS. 219 



17. — Erithacus bubecula melophilus Hart. 



British Robin. 



Erithacus ruhecula melophilus Hartert, "Nov. Zool.,'' 



1901, p. 317. 



Differs from E. ruhecula ruhecula (of Scandinavia, 

 Germany, etc.) in having a much deeper brownish-red 

 throat, and a darker, more rufous upper surface ; the sides 

 of the body are darker, and the brown colouring more 

 extended. The British Robin is easily distinguished from 

 the " typical " north EurojDean Robin, but the form from 

 Teneriife and Gran Canaria {Erithacus ruhecula superhus) is 

 somewhat nearer, and so are others, which I hope to 

 discuss fully before long. The deep red throat of the 

 British Robin is so striking that even ladies without any 

 ornithological knowledge whatever, have noticed the 

 difference between British and continental Robins. 



When I first described this form I attached much 

 importance to its domestic and garden-loving habits, 

 nesting-sites, and song. My knowledge of Robins on the 

 continent had been mostly derived from the eastern parts 

 of Germany, where they are almost essentially forest-birds ; 

 but it now seems to me that such habits vary locally much 

 more than I had supposed, and that in this case, as in 

 others, the habits have been altered on account of the 

 different surroundings. Vaster forests and less population 

 in the east, more gardens, houses, and much thicker 

 population in the west, account for these differences in 

 habits ; and in this as well as in other cases, such 

 differences cannot serve to strengthen the systematic value 

 of a subspecies. 



[Continental Robins not infrequently, and perhaps 

 regularly, pass through Great Britain on migration.] 



18. — Troglodytes troglodytes hirtexsis Seeb. 



St. Kilda Wren. 



Troglodytes hirtensis and Troglodytes parvulus hirtensis 



Seebohm, " Zoologist," 1884, p. 333 (St. Kilda). 



While Wrens from Great Britain and Ireland are. 



