44 LESSER WHITETHROAT. 



N. lat. ; while southward it is found in summer over the greater part 

 of temperate Europe. It is, however, almost unknown or very rare, 

 even on migration, in Portugal and the western part of Spain, but a 

 few pass the winter to the east of Malaga, and in some years the 

 species is fairly common on migration about Valencia and Murcia. 

 In Italy it is very local ; but eastward it becomes more abundant, 

 and in Transylvania its numbers far exceed those of its relative. 

 Beyond the valley of the Lower Volga the doubtfully distinct Siberian 

 form S. affiiiis, replaces it ; in Cashmere, the Himalayas and the 

 north-west of India comes 6". althea ; while the Afghan 6". iniiiuscnla, 

 Hume, makes yet a fourth subdivision. Our typical bird winters in 

 Northern and Central Africa, Arabia, Palestine and Persia. 



The nest is a shallow structure of dried grasses, lined with hair, 

 and is frequently placed in brambles or small bushes ; a predilec- 

 tion being shown for hazel- and thorn-hedges, whence the bird's Lan- 

 cashire name of ' Hazel Linnet.' The eggs, 5-6, laid in May, are 

 creamy-white blotched with brown, and with under-spots of grey : 

 average measurements "65 by "5 in. The female sits very close. 

 The song of the male is continued very late into the summer, and 

 has been syllabled as sip, sip, sip, frequently uttered in sultry 

 weather. The food consists of insects and their larvae, and fruit in the 

 season. The autumn departure generally takes place in the latter 

 part of September, but exceptional captures up to November are on 

 record. 



Adult male : crown smoke-grey ; lores and ear-coverts dark 

 brown ; nape, back and tail-coverts brownish-grey ; wing-feathers 

 ash-brown, with paler tips and margins, but without the rufous 

 edgings to the secondaries which are so conspicuous in the larger 

 species ; outer tail-feathers greyish-brown with white outer webs ; 

 the rest of the feathers dark brown ; under parts white, with a faint 

 rosy tinge, fading into buff on the flanks ; bill blackish ; legs, which 

 are short and stout, slate-colour; iris white. Length 5*25 in. ; wing 

 to the tip of the 3rd and longest primary 2-5 in. The female is 

 rather smaller and generally duller in colour. The young are like 

 the female, except that the pale margins of the wing-feathers are 

 more pronounced, and the irides are reddish-brown. 



Sundevall states that this species, the Greater Whitethroat, and 

 the Barred Warbler, all have a spring moult. Mr. J. Young, who 

 has kept the Lesser Whitethroat for several years, confirms this as 

 regards some, but not all, of the quill-feathers. 



