317 



ally in Switzerland, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily. (Has once occurred 

 in S. Kilda and once on Fair Island.")* 



In Spain this species seem to be local, and chiefly confined to the con- 

 maritime provinces, from Catalonia to Andalucia, but it also occurs in ^'^^°g 

 some districts of the central plateau, and Saunders obtained eggs near 

 Madrid. In Portugal it is common in the S. (Algarve), but is apparently 

 absent from the N. of the country; though plentiful in the lower Gua- 

 diana valley (Lynes), In France it is found in Languedoc and Provence 

 and ranges northward into Savoie. In Switzerland it has bred occasion- 

 ally near Geneva, and once near Neuchatel, while in Italy, although 

 met with commonly in Tuscany and Liguria, it is rare in the Po valley, 

 Piedmont and Lombardy, but breeds in the southern provinces. In the 

 W. Mediterranean it is common in Corsica and the small islands lying 

 between it and Italy, and is also not rare in Sardinia and plentiful in 

 suitable localities in Sicily, but absent from Malta. To all these localities 

 it is a summer visitor only. 



The nesting sites vary from 1 to 5 ft. above the ground, but usually Nest. 

 2 — 3 ft. high, sometimes in gorse, cistus, brambles, and myrtle bushes, 

 or else in sapling ilex and other trees. Most nests are rather slightly 

 but neatly built of dry grasses or bits of dead thistle leaves, lined often 

 only with finer bents, but sometimes also with horse or pig hair. The 

 structure is strengthened by cobwebs, and plant down is often inter- 

 spersed; and in some nests dark reddish brown fibrous matter is used 

 as lining material. Average diameter of cup II — 2i in., depth li — If in. 



Almost invariably 3 or 4, but Lynes found a single nest in Spain Eggs, 

 with 5 eggs. Almost all the eggs which I have seen from Corsica and 

 Sicily are of one type, being greyish or pale greenish white, finely speckled 

 and spotted, chiefly at the big end, with ochreous or umber and under- 

 lying inky violet or pale grey markings. There is a certain amount of 

 variation in depth of colour in the spots, and lightly marked eggs are 

 exceptional, while one set in the British Museum shows a great deal of 

 the white ground, and a distinct zone of dark spots is not uncommon. 

 From Spain however the erythristic type is very prevalent, with pinkish 

 white ground either spotted with reddish brown and lavender or boldly 

 blotched with deep chesnut red, chiefly at the big end. There is little 

 or no gloss. 



The first eggs may be found in Spain from the second week in Breeding 

 April onward till early in June, so probably two broods are reared. In ^^"°°- 



* The statement in Dresser's and other works, that this species breeds in the 

 Canaries, is due to an error by BoUe, who confounded it with S. conspicillata. 

 Cf. Koenig, J. f. 0., 1890, p. 371. 



