310 



Ireland, and in England and Wales is absent from Cornwall and very 

 scarce in Devon, only becoming common in E. Somerset and E. Dorset. 

 It is also practically unknown or only of extremely rare ocurrence in the 

 W. of AVales, from Anglesey and Carnarvon S. to Pembroke and Car- 

 marthen. In the N. of England it is only thinly distributed in York- 

 shire and Lancashire, and only breeds occasionally in Durham and North- 

 umberland, while it is scarce and local in the Lake district. In Scotland 

 it is also decidedly scarce, and it is doubtful whether it is anything 

 more than an accidental visitor to any area N. of the Solway district, 

 although a nest (with 7 eggs !) is said to have been taken in W. Ross, 

 and it has visited Fair Island and the Orkneys on migration. 



uon- In Norway its northern limit is about 65" N., and in Sweden from 



Europe. 64" to 65", while on the Dovre fjeld its vertical range extends to 3500 ft. 

 From the N. end of the Gulf of Bothnia it is thinly distributed in N. 

 Russia as far as Archangel and about lat. 60" -in the Urals. In S. E. 

 Russia it appears to breed in the Caucasus, but the limits of the W. race 

 are not clearly defined and possibly these birds may belong to the next 

 race. Throughout the rest of the Continent it is fairly general, but be- 

 comes very scarce in S. Italy and apparently is only a rare winter visitor 

 to the Iberian peninsula beyond the Pyrenees, except possibly in the 

 province of Gerona. On the other hand a few pairs breed in the pine 

 forests of the Greek mountains as well as in Macedonia. It is only a 

 scarce migrant to Sardinia, but AVhitehead found it breeding in Corsica, 

 and the evidence with regard to Sicily is somewhat conflicting, though 

 it is said to nest there. Its numbers vary in different localities and in 

 some districts, such as Transsylvania, it is extremely abundant, far out- 

 numbering the Common AVhitethroat. [In Asia Minor it is generally 

 distributed, but commonest in the mountains, and visits Crete and Cyprus 

 on migration. It also breeds commonly in Palestine according to Tristram, 

 and apparently in the mountains of Persia]. 



Nest. In England often found in thick hedges, bushes, shrubberies, etc., 



generally rather low down, from 2 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. from the ground. 

 The nest is smallish, built of dry stalks and grasses, lined with roots 

 and fibre alone in many cases, but sometimes horsehair is freely or 

 sparingly used. Cobwebs and down are also used to fasten the outer 

 material together. It is always much flatter than that of the Common 

 Whitethroat, but there is much variation in the amount of material used 

 and the thickness of the walls. Diameter of cup, 2 — 21 in., depth, 

 li in. Rey records a nest built almost entirely of Erica vulgaris in 

 Germany. 



Eggs. From 4 to 6 in number, usually 5, and quite characteristic. (Ten 



eggs have been found in a nest, but were obviously the produce of two 



