26 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
dark brown with whitish maf®ins, narrow on primaries and 
broad on secondaries and coverts; tail blackish, outermost 
feathers white, beneath white, with rosy tinge; flanks washed 
with grey; chin and throat black; bill blackish; legs pale 
brown ; irides dark brown. Length 5°25 inches; culmen 0°45 ; 
wing 2°8; tail 2°5 ; tarsus 0°8. 
Adult Female: Above greyish-brown, greyer on head, 
where the feathers have dark bases; throat and flanks washed 
with brownish-grey ; rest of underparts white. 
Adult Male(Winter) : Black feathers of throat and crown 
with pale margins, otherwise similar to summer plumage. 
Birds of the Year: Similar to female, but head browner ; 
back duller; tail greyish-brown ; secondaries edged with pale 
rufous ; throat and flanks washed with pale brown. 
Distribution : Summer visitant to Greece, Asia Minor, and 
Palestine, wintering in Northern Africa. 
Habitat : Dense bushes and reeds. 
BLACKCAP., ¥ 
Sylvia atricapilla (Zznz.) 
Adult Male (Summer): Above ashy-brown, becoming 
bluish-ash on rump, upper tail-coverts and nape ; crown black ; 
wings brown with pale margins; ¢az/ ashy-brown throughout ; 
throat and underparts ashy-grey, paler on chin and abdomen ; 
bill horn colour ; legs leaden-grey ; irides hazel-brown. Length 
5°5 inches ; culmen 0°4; wing 2°8 ; tarsus 0°8. 
Adult Female (Summer): Head rufous. Upper surface 
of body browner than in male. 
Adult Male (Winter): Nape more suffused with brown ; 
sides of body washed with buffish-brown. 
Young in first plumage: Sexes alike. Above as in 
adult female ; beneath whitish, shaded with greyish-brown on 
breast and buffish-brown on sides of body. . 
Young after first moult: Scarcely differ from adult 
female, except that the head of young male is darker brown. 
Distribution : Resident in Southern Europe and Northern 
Africa, extending northwards through the temperate regions of 
Europe in summer. 
Habitat: Groves and dense deciduous undergrowth. 
