74 Capt. Beavan on various Indian Birds. 



Specimens procured on 22nd October had no trace whatever 

 of a black head, and were considered by Col. Tytler to be the 

 young of the year ; but in my opinion the state of the plumage 

 was not sufficiently juvenile; and I think that the old birds 

 adopt a different colouring according to the time of year, pro- 

 bably putting on the black head as the breeding-season ap- 

 proaches*. The specimens just mentioned (A and B) may be 

 thus described : — Ashy-grey above, pure white beneath ; olive- 

 brown on the secondaries and flanks ; bill and legs plumbeous ; 

 irides yellowish-grey. They were moulting, the tail not being 

 fully developed, but the white outer feathers beginning to show 

 in it. 



A specimen (C), killed 27th October, was beginning to get a 

 black head. It also was moulting, and was the first 1 had 

 come across with any trace of the black plumage. Irides 

 grey. 



A fourth specimen (D), killed on November 12th, had a fully 

 developed black head, and its colours altogether of a brighter 

 and purer hue than the specimens above mentioned, one of 

 which was a female ; but the sexes of the others were not ascer- 

 tained. 



582. Sylvia afftnis. Allied Grey Warbler. 



A bird found very abundantly throughout the station of 

 Umballah in the cold weather appears to be referable to this 

 speciesf. It chiefly frequents tamarisk- and acacia-trees, and 

 utters, when disturbed, a sharp " titick.^^ Babool-trees form an 

 especially favourite resort ; and in these one frequently sees both 

 this and the preceding species. My specimens agree fairly in 



* [That this view of the case is correct, there is probably little doubt. 

 Cf. Von der MUhle, Monogr. Eui-op. Sylv. p. 48.— Ed.] 



t Lord Walden, however, suspects it to be identical with the Common 

 Whitethroat of England {S. cinerea), as Dr. Jerdon formerly considered 

 it. See, however, Mr. Blyth's remark on this point (Ibis, 1867, p. 28). 



