406 



PA SSEHES. 



SYLVIIDiE. 



SYLVIID.H. 



Sylvia rufa (Boddaert*). 

 THE GREATER WHITETHROAT. 



Curruca cinerea^. 



Sylvia, ScopoliX- — Bill rather stout, short, not very broad at base; vipper 

 mandible decurved from the middle towards the point which is slightly emargi- 

 nated ; nostrils basal, lateral, oval and exposed ; gape beset with hairs. Wings 

 moderate ; the first primary very shorty the third longest. Tail of twelve feathers, 

 generally somewhat rounded, but in a few species nearly even. Legs with the 

 tarsus scaled in front and short, longer than the middle toe ; toes and claws .short. 



The Greater Whitethroat, if not more numerous as a 

 species, is perhaps more generally diffused here than any of 

 the other summer- Warblers which annually visit this country. 

 It makes its appearance about the third week in April, 

 and frequents the sides of woods, thickets and hedge-rows, 



* Motacilla rufa, Boddaert, Table des Planches Enlumineez, p. 35, No. 581, 

 fig. 1 (1783). 



t Sylvia cinerea, Latham, Ind. Orn. ii., p. 514 (1790). 

 + Annus I. Historico-Naturalis, p. 154 (1769). 



