tinental- 

 Europe. 



238 



British The distribution in England of this summer visitor is somewhat 



^'^*"' irregular, hut it is generally to be met with on bush covered commons 

 and waste lands in the midland and southern counties of England and 

 Wales, S. of lat. 53" N. It is however only a rare visitor to Cornwall, 

 and is scarce in Pembroke, but is not uncommon on the Merioneth 

 coast. In Lincolnshire it is rare, and is only a very local visitor in 

 small numbers to the northern counties, though it breeds occasionally in 

 W. Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lake District. It has been known 

 to nest on Anglesea, and a few pairs appear to extend their range 

 occasionally to S. E. Scotland, as for instance in 1893, when a pair 

 bred in Lanark. It does not breed in Ireland. 

 Con- In the Iberian peninsula this species breeds only in the N., in 



Catalonia, Aragon, and the country N, of the Cantabrian range. Tait 

 found a nest on the R, Minho, on the border of Pertugal and Galicia. 

 It apparently reaches Europe on migration via Italy. A few pairs are 

 said to breed in the wooded parts of Sicily, and it is not uncommon 

 on the hills of Sardinia and in Corsica, but is scarce in S. Italy. In 

 the Balkan peninsula it is found as far S. as the middle region of the 

 higher mountains of Greece but not in the plains, and in the Caucasus 

 Radde states that it has been observed at a height of 6300 ft. as well 

 as in the low ground. Over the whole of middle Europe it is generally 

 distributed and in some districts very common. In Scandinavia it has 

 occim-ed in Sweden up to lat. 64", and is common in the Christiania 

 district of Norway, while it is also numerous in the Russian Baltic 

 provinces and is found in Finland as far as Kuopio, and in Russia up 

 to about lat. 64°. 



[In Asia Minor it is a mountain haunting species, and was only 

 found breeding on Hermon and Lebanon in Palestine by Tristram. It 

 is also found in Transcaspia and N. Persia, but probably the birds from 

 Transcaucasia to E. Persia belong to the race described by Buturlin as 

 L. coUurio kohylini, if really distinct.] 



Large for the size of the bird, and generally to be found in thorn 

 bushes, clumps of briars and brambles, low and thick, or straggling high 

 hedges, etc. On the Continent it is also frequently found in thick young 

 conifers, and occasionally among the lower boughs of medium sized trees, 

 especially oaks. Collett mentions a nest on a large root among high 

 grass! It is not uncommon to find the nest close to a road or well 

 used path. The usual height is about 3 — 5 ft. from the ground, but 

 some nests are not more than a foot or so above it and others have 

 been found as high as 9 and even 12 ft. The materials used are 

 generally bents, stalks, roots, etc., with a good deal of green moss, 

 while fine roots, wool, hair, and down are used for the lining. Some 



Nest. 



