RUFOUS WARBLER. 419 
and that it was exceedingly thin. Its visit was probably occasioned by 
the strong southerly wind which had prevailed for several days.” 
To the above occurrences must be added a third example, shot in a 
turnip-field near Slapton in Devonshire, on the 12th of October 1876. 
It was recorded in the ‘ Zoologist’ for that year (p. 5179) by Mr. Henry 
Nicholls, who states that it appears to be a bird of the year, and, curiously 
enough, was taken within a short distance of the specimen obtained in the 
year 1859. 
The Rufous Warbler has a very restricted geographical distribution, its 
range being confined to the basin of the Mediterranean and eastwards into 
Turkestan. Even in this small area it is subject to considerable variation, 
the eastern form bemg much greyer on the whole of the upper parts, 
especially on the central tail-feathers, than the western form, and the 
Abyssinian form being smaller than either. The typical form appears to 
be the one that has occurred in our islands, and is a common summer 
visitor to Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Egypt, and Palestine south of Beyrout. 
It is known to winter in Abyssinia, and has been said to have been pro- 
cured at that season of the year on the Gold Coast. 
The small form is said to be a resident in Abyssinia, and is generally 
known as S. galactodes, var. minor. The grey-backed form S. galactodes, 
var. familiaris, breeds in Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine north of Beyrout, 
the Caucasus, Persia, and Turkestan. It winters in Scinde, Baluchistan, 
and Rajpootana. This form has occurred accidentally on Heligoland ; 
and in the museum at Florence are several examples from Nice and Genoa. 
As might be expected of a bird which only accidentally wanders north 
of the basin of the Mediterranean, the Rufous Warbler is a migratory 
species which arrives very late at its breeding-quarters, and leaves early 
for the south in autumn. In Greece and Asia Minor I found it a very 
common bird, and shot several examples as they sat in the lowest branches 
of the olive-trees in the vineyards. Even in these southern latitudes it is 
a bird of the plains, and was to be found in company with Cetti’s Warbler, 
Bee-eaters, and the Isabelline Chat, but was never observed in the pine- 
region, where the Wood-Lark, the Chaffinch, and the Wheatear were 
breeding. It did not arrive until the last week in April, five weeks after 
the Swallows. Although in some respects this bird resembles the Reed- 
Warblers, his song is quite different, and reminded me very much of that 
of the Robin. The bird is very active, and is often seen perched ina 
somewhat conspicuous position, moving his tail up and down like a Wag- 
tail. In flying it often spreads its tail, showing very conspicuously the 
contrast of the black and white on the outside feathers. We had several 
nests brought us early in June, and remarked that in most of them was a 
piece of the cast skin of a snake. The Grecks told us that this bird always 
weaves a small portion into the lining of the nest, to act as a charm to 
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