82 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



SYLYIA CONSPICILLATA, Marmora. 

 SPECTACLED WARBLER. 



Sylvia conspicillata, Marm. fide Temm. Man. d'Orn. i, p. 210 (1820) ; 

 Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v. p. 22; Malherbe, Faune Ornith. 

 dc I'Alg. p. 13 a855) ; Koenig, J. f. 0. 1888, p. 195 ; id. J. f. 0. 1892, 

 p. 397 ; Whitaker, Ibis, 1C'.'5, p. 95 ; Erlanger, J. f. 0. 1899, p. 265. 



Stoparola conspicillata, Loche, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. i, p. 2-12 (1867). 



Description. — Adult male, spring, from El-Oubira, Central Tunisia. 



Above slate-grey, the back and scapulars browner; secondaries and 

 wing-coverts conspicuously margined with liglit cinnamon ; the two exterior 

 rectrices white, the next adjoining pair tipped with white, the remainder 

 brownish-black ; lores and ear-coverts very dark slate ; chin and sides of 

 the throat pure white ; lower throat pale slate ; breast and remainder of 

 underparts pale vinous, becoming whitish on the middle of the abdomen 

 and crissum. 



Iris brif^ht hazel, eyelid fringed with small white feathers ; bill brownish- 

 grey, yellowish at the base of the lower mandible ; feet yellowish. 



Total length 4 inches, wing 2-25, culmen -40, tarsus -70. 



Adult female, winter, from Tatahouine, South Tunisia. 



Above uniform sandy-brown ; wings and tail as in the male ; below 

 whitish, with a buff instead of a vinous tinge. 



Soft parts and measurements as in the male. 



Observation. — There is a considerable difference between the summer 

 and the winter plumage of this species, the latter being a good deal browner, 

 and generally duller than the former. 



This little Warbler is of general distribution throughout the 

 Tunisian Regency, where it is resident and breeds. The species is, 

 however, also to some extent migratory, and during the spring 

 months seems to be more abundant than at other seasons. 



In Algeria S. conspicillata is by no means uncommon, and I have 

 numerous examples of it from South Marocco. According to Favier, 

 however, the species is not common about Tangier, where it is only 

 to be seen in the spring, on its passage northward. 



Col. Irhy includes this Warbler in his list of birds to be found in 

 South Spain (Orn. Straits Gib. p. 87). In Italy the Spectacled Warbler 

 occurs occasionally, and in Sicily it is by no means uncommon during 

 the spring and summer months, nesting in the higher mountainous 

 districts of the island. I have no specimens from, or notes of its 



