410 BRITISH BIRDS. 
SYLVIA CURRUCA. 
LESSER WHITETHROAT. 
(Prate 10.) 
Ficedula curruca garrula, Briss. Orn. iii. p, 884 (1760). 
Motacilla curruca, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 329 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum— 
(Latham), (Bechstein), (Temminck), (Naumann), (Bonaparte), (Schlegel), (Gray), 
(Newton), (Dresser), Sc. 
? Motacilla dumetorum, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 334 (1766), 
Sylvia curruca (Linn.), Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 155 (1769). 
Sylvia sylviella, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. i. p. 287 (1787). 
? Sylvia dumetornm (Zinn.), Lath. Ind. Orn, ii. p. 522 (1790). 
Motacilla sylviella (Lath.), Turton, Linn. Gen. Syst. Nat. i. p. 588 (1806). 
Silvia garrula, Bechst. Naturg. Deutsch. 2nd ed. ii. p. 540 (1807), 
Curruca garrula (Bechst.), Koch, Syst. baver. Zool. i. p. 157 (1816). 
Curruca sylviella (Lath.), Fleming, Brit. An. p. 71 (1828). 
Curruca dumetorum (Linn.), Brehm, Vog, Deutschl. p, 422 (1831). 
Curruca molaria, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 422 (1881). 
Ficedula garrula (Bechst.), Blyth, Rennie’s Field Nat. i. p. 352 (1835). 
The Lesser Whitethroat was first made known to British ornithologists 
by Latham, from specimens obtained near Bulstrode, in Buckinghamshire, 
by the Rev. Mr. Lightfoot, who sent them to that ornithologist, who 
described them in the Supplement to his ‘ General Synopsis,’ and gave a 
figure of the bird, its nest and eggs (i. p. 185, pl. exii.). It is probable, 
however, that the bird had already been noticed in this country by Gilbert 
White, who accurately describes it in a letter to his friend Mr. Barrington. 
Among continental ornithologists this bird appears to have been known to 
Linneeus, Brisson, Buffon, and Scopoli. In this country the bird is a 
somewhat local one, and becomes very rare in the west of England and in 
Wales. Montagu states that in Lincolnshire, in his time, the bird was 
more abundant than in any other part of England; but now it appears to 
be only local there. In the Channel Islands it is only found in Guernsey, 
and is by no means numerous. In Scotland the Lesser Whitethroat is also 
very local in its distribution. According to Gray it is sparingly met with 
in parts of Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, and Dumbarton, and occurs as far 
north as the middle of Argyleshire. It is equally local on the east 
coast. ‘Three or four specimens have been observed on the Shetlands ; but 
the bird appears to be absent from the rest of the Scotch islands, never 
having been met with in the Hebrides. In Ireland, although its congener 
the Common Whitethroat is so widely distributed, there is no reliable 
evidence of the occurrence of the present species, 
