122 Mr. D. A. Banner man on the [Ibis, 



Family Sylviid/E. 



Sylvia commimis communis. Common Wliitetliroat. 



Sylvia communis Latham, Gen. Syn. Siippl, i. 1787, 

 p. 287 — Type locality : England. 



This is a Rare Visitor to the Canary Islands, and one over 

 which a great deal of contusion has taueu place. 



The one record which unquestionably refers to the Common 

 Whitethroat is given in the Orn. J^thrb. 1912, p. 227, by 

 von Thanner who shot, on 1 April, 1912, in Fuerteventura, 

 a female example of S. communis communis which was in 

 company with European Chiffcliaffs, Willow-Wrens, and 

 Blackcaps (' Monchsgrasmiicken '). 



Another record which 1 consider ajjplicable to tliis species 

 is as follows : — A bird shot by Polatzek at San Mateo, 

 Gran Canaria, ou 23 August in a fruit garden where many 

 stayed a long time. Polatzek recorded tiie bird (Orn. 

 Jahib. 1909, p. 124) as Sylvia sylvia (Linn.), and this I 

 take to be the Common Whitethroat now known as S. com- 

 munis communis. Other authors refer to this species as 

 Sylvia cmerea Bechst., which is another synonym of S. c. 

 communis. 



The fact that the Common Whitethroat is quoted as 

 breeding in the Canary Islands is due to VVebl) & Berthelot 

 (Orn. Canarienne, p. 15), aiid later Bolle (J. f. O. 1854, 

 p. 454), who affirmed that Sylvia cinerea Bechst. was to be 

 found '' in almost all the islands '^ and " in all the Archi- 

 pelago where thorny bushes abound." It is quite obvious, 

 from a close study of their work, that these authors mistook 

 the hen * of the Spectacled Warbler (Sylvia conspicillata 

 bella) for the Common Whitethroat, which they refer to in 

 their work as Sylvia cinerea Lath. 



Dr. Hartert (Vog. pal. Faun. p. 588) places ? Motacilla 

 sylvia Linn, as a synonym of Sylvia curruca curruca, 



* [The male Spectacled Warbler was referred to by Webb & Bertbelot 

 (Oru. Canarienne, p. 15), and Bolle (J. f. O. 1854, p. 454) as Sylvia 

 passerina, a name which, as quoted from the Canary Islands, is abso- 

 lutely iudetermihable, vide Appendix B.] 



