24 The Oo/ogists' Record, March \, 192 1. 



in most cases and the bird sits tiglit until one is right on top of the 

 nest or until the surrounding cover has been disturbed. Nests 

 with eggs were found as follows : — 



19th April, 1920, 1. Fresh. Low bush in crops on dry plain. 



i6th May, 1920, 5. Few days. Low scrub cover in dry marsh. 



i6th May, 1920, 5. Fresh. Low scrub cover in dry marsh. 



i6th May, 1920, 5. Few days. Low in grass and aquatic vege- 

 tation in a marsh. 



23rd May, 1920, 5. Hard set. Low scrub cover in dry marsh. 



23rd May, 1920, 4. Few days. Low scrub cover in dry marsh. 



26th May, 1920, 3. Several days. Low scrub cover in dry marsh. 



9th June, 1920, 3. Few days. In pollarded eucalyptus. 



i6th June, 1920, 2. Few days. Low scrub cover in dry marsh. 



Nests did not differ much from those found in England, 

 though all seemed better constructed and more solid. The 

 first nest found, in the crop land, was quite massive and really 

 looked much too large for this bird, but I saw the parents near the 

 nest. In height, they were usually 3 feet or less alcove the ground, 

 and, more rarely, up to 4 feet. I think tJie description " fairly 

 common locally," as several nests may be found in one tiny area, 

 and. " generally, though sparingly, distributed, all over the hills 

 and coastal plain," to be fairly correct. I believe several species of 

 Sylvia breed freely on Mt. .Carmel, near Haifa, though I never 

 had the good fortune to test this information. 



On the whole, the eggs found were much paler in ground colour 

 than many spechnens I have found in Kent and Devon, a dirty 

 whitish, sometimes tinged green, being the prevailing colour. Five 

 eggs seemed the usual clutch, though birds were found incubating 

 both four and three eggs, but the riumber of nests found was not 

 sufficient to decide this point. 



Whitethroats were first noticed passing through on passage 

 on 22nd February, after which date they were quite common and 

 more especially so in the cover at the edges of the marches. I shot 

 a few specimens which I made into skins. After the end of March, 

 the passage ceased, and the birds remaining to breed were principally 

 to be found in the scrub and cover near the marshland. I have no 

 dates of the departure of this species at the end of the breeding season, 



(Jo he continued.) 



Harrison & Sons, Ltd., Prinlers in Ordinary to His Majesty, St. Martin's Lane, W.C. 2, 



