248 



forests of the Kirghis steppes and in Transcaspia and is also common in 

 the valleys of the Elburz Mts. Nordmann also describes it as very 

 numerous on the E. coasts of the Black Sea. 



A clutch of 6 eggs from the Caucasus averages 18.1 x 13.24 mm. in 

 size: Max. 18.5x13.3 and 18.2x13.5: Min. 17.6x13. 



[In the mountain forests of Algeria and N. Tunisia another race, 

 M. atricapilla speculigera Bp. is found locally.] 



111. Collared Flycatcher, Muscicapa collaris Bechst. 



Eggs: Thienemann, Fortpfl., Tab. XXIX, fig. 10, a, b. Baedeker, 

 Tab. 52, fig. 13. Taczanowski, Tab. XLII, fig. 2, 3. Dresser, pi.—, 

 fig. 9, 10. 



Foreign Names: Denmark: Hvidhalset Fluesnapper . France: 

 Oobe-mouche a collier. Germany: Halshand-Fliegenschndpper. Hungary: 

 Orvos legykapo. Italy: Pigliamoche a collare bianco. Russia: Mucho- 

 lowska belosheyka. Sweden: Halsbands-Fliigsnappare. 



Muscicapa collaris Bechst. Dresser, B. of Europe, III, p. 459 and 

 Man. Pal. Birds, p. 255. Hartert, Vog. Pal. Fauna, p. 483. 



Breeding Range: Gotland: Central Europe, but rarely in France, 

 and absent from the Iberian and the S. of the Italian and Balkan Penin- 

 sulas; extending E. to S. Russia. 

 Con- This bird is closely allied to the preceding species and the females 



are not easily distinguishable, but it appears to be spora-dically dis- 

 tributed in the breeding season over much the same districts, except that 

 its range does not extend so far to the N. and W. In Scandinavia it 

 has been recorded from Oland, southern Skane and near Goteborg, and 

 is known to breed regularly on Gotland and probably also on Borgholm 

 and Ottenby. In Germany it nests sporadically in small numbers, and 

 is most numerous in the S. W., Bavaria, Baden, Hesse to Brandenburg 

 and Silesia, and in France a few pairs are said to breed in Savoie, and 

 also in Holland and Belgium. There is little evidence of its presence in 

 Spain or Portugal, but in Italy Arrigoni states that it breeds in the 

 mountains of Venetia, Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, in the Tuscan 

 Apennines and possibly in Calabria. It is found sparingly in Switzer- 

 land, Styria, Carinthia, Moravia, Galizia etc., and occurs regularly on 

 passage in Greece, while in Russia it is said to breed fairly commonly 

 in the Crimea and also in the Uman district, and has been recorded as 

 far N. as S. Petersburg, Moscow and Kazan. [It occurs also in Asia 

 Minor, Persia and Palestine, but has not been proved to breed.] 

 >fest. Similar to that of M. atricapilla : frequently placed in natural holes 



of trees, especially beech and oak, but also sometimes in old Wood- 



tinental 

 Europe. 



