SYLVIA OEPHEA 89 



Adult female resembles the male, but is duller in colour generally, and 

 without the black crown, this part being dark ashen-grey. 



The Orphean Warbler is very abundant in the wooded parts of 

 Tunisia as a summer migrant, arriving about the end of March or 

 beginning of April, breeding in the Eegency, and leaving again in the 

 autumn. In the Gafsa oasis I found the species particularly plentiful 

 throughout the month of April, and in the neighbourhood of Sousa in 

 Central Tunisia it is very common among the olive groves, which 

 abound there. Olive groves, indeed, seem to have a special attraction 

 for this, as well as for some other species of Warbler, and in the height 

 of the periods of migration, are the resort of numbers of these small 

 birds, which may be seen flitting from tree to tree, and feeding on the 

 ants and other small insects which infest the gnarled trunks and 

 rough branches of the olive tree. Throughout the wooded districts 

 of the country north of the Atlas the species is also common during 

 the spring and summer. 



From Tripoli I have examples of the Orphean Warbler obtained 

 during the month of April, and from Marocco some obtained in June. 

 This species apparently breeds in both these countries. 



In its general habits the present species resembles the Blackcap, 

 but is less shy, allowing one to approach within a short distance of it. 

 The food of the Orphean Warbler consists of worms and insects, 

 varied perhaps to a slight extent by fruit and berries. Its song, though 

 hardly such as to merit the bird's high-sounding name, possesses some 

 fairly rich and melodious notes. 



In South Tunisia this Warbler commences nesting operations soon 

 after its arrival in April ; north of the Atlas the breeding season is 

 somewhat later. The nest is generally to be found in a low bush, and 

 is built of fine grasses, lined with a little hair or wool. The eggs, 

 which are usually three or four in number, are sometimes greenish- 

 white, at others cream-coloured, marked and spotted with pale lake 

 and brown. Average measurements 20 x 15 mm. 



