424 SYl.VlIDyE. 



Birds ' (p. 106), also mentions a nest and four eggs believed 

 to belong to this species, which are said to have been taken 

 in Notton Wood, near Wakefield, in June, 1864 ; and Mr. 

 Gould, on the authority of Mr. Howard Saunders, states 

 nearly the same of eggs taken at East Grinsted. 



The geographical range of this bird is very peculiar, but 

 its boundaries may be traced thus. It has been met with 

 in Heligoland according to Mr. Gatke, but there seems to 

 be no positive evidence of its occurrence in Germany. It 

 has been said to breed in Holland, but it is not recognized 

 as a bird of that country by Prof, Schlegel, and M. de Selys- 

 Longchamps states that it is very, rare in Belgium. It 

 visits, however, the Ardennes, the neighbourhood of Metz 

 (whence Temminck procured the examples he described), 

 and the Vosges. It also occurs regularly in Switzerland and 

 Savoy, and thence across Lombardy to Dalmatia. In Corfu 

 it is not, according to Lord Lilford, common, but Dr. Linder- 

 mayer says it is resident in Greece, and Mr. Robson has 

 procured it near Constantinople. It is not rare in the 

 Crimea, and seems to breed there. It is found in Asia 

 Minor and in Palestine,* where it is a summer-visitor. It 

 has been met with in Arabia, and Dr. von Heuglin believes 

 that he has often seen it in autumn in Egypt and Nubia, 

 It inhabits Algeria (where it breeds) and Morocco. It occurs 

 in Portugal and is abundant in spring in Southern Spain. 

 It is a summer-migrant in Sicily and Italy, but is rare in 

 many places, and appears to fail in Sardinia. Its distribu- 

 tion in France seems to be singular, but means are wanting 

 for defining its limits. It is said, however, not to be found 

 near Paris. 



In habits this bird seems to shew much affinity to the 

 Whitethroats and Blackcap, and from Mr. Salvin's observa- 



* In Palestine it is accompanied liy a larger form, i^erhaps the largest Sijlvia 

 known, with a bigger bill. This extends through Persia to India, where it was, 

 in 1817, named S. jerdoni by Mr. Blyth, who asserts (Ibis, 18C5, p. 43) that 

 Artamus cucu'latus (P. Z. S. 1854, p. 195) is a synonym of the same bird. 

 Curruca orphea var. Jklena of Hemprich and Ebrenberg seems to be another 

 eastern form, smaller but with a longer and straighter bill. 



