SYLVIA. 035 



Jerdon says it is common at Simla and about Darjeeling, and, according to 

 Gates, has been recorded from Arrakan ami Tenasscrim by IJlyth. Ao 

 ing to Hume (Nests and Eggs) it breeds in Nepaul and Sikkim from April to 

 June at from 3,OoO to 5,000 feet. The nests arc placed on the ground and are 

 composed of soft moss of different kinds. Eggs 3 to 4 in .number. 



Family. TURDID^E. 



Bill slender but rather wide and depressed ; wing long and flat, with a very 

 stfiall bastard primary not more than half the length of the second, the latter 

 generally longer than the secondaries. Composed of birds generally migratory. 



Sub-family. SYLVIIN/E GREY WARBLERS. 



The young in first plumage differ very slightly in color from the adult, 

 both being unspotted both above and below. In rare instances in which the 

 upper parts are spotted in the adult the spots are less conspicuous in the 

 young. (Seebohm.) 



Gen. Sylvia. Scop. 



Bill Sylviinse, generally with more or less dark underneath ; nostrils in a 

 groove. Tail nearly even, generally with white on the outermost tail feathers ; 

 bastard primary not extending beyond the primary coverts, or not more than 

 o'3 ; 2nd primary generally shorter than the 3rd and 4th ; feet and tarsus stout, 

 latter scutellated in front. The males of many have dark heads. 



275. Sylvia Cinerea, Bechst. Om. Taschcnb. i. p. 170; Tern. Man. 

 d'Ont. p. 112; Gray Gen. B.\. p. 174; Heugl. Orn. N. O. Afr. i. p. 307; 

 Blf. Geol. and Zool. Abyss, p. 379; Shelley, B. Egypt, p. in. Curruca 

 cinerea (Bcchst.) Gould B. Eur. ii. pi. 125. Sylvia rufa, (Bodd) Ft. E. 

 P- 35 J apud. Newt. ed. Yarr. B. Eur. pt. 1 ; Hume, Str. F. iii. 488 ; Murray, 

 Hdblc. Zool., $r., Sind, p. 163; Murray, Vert. Zool, Sind, p. 162. The 

 EUROPEAN WHITE-THROAT. 



" Male. Over the eye is a streak of yellowish white. Head on the crown 

 slate grey with a tinge of brown ; neck on the sides pale brownish grey ; on 

 the back and nape, lighter greyish brown than the head ; chin and throat silvery 

 white, the latter has the feathers somewhat puffed out as when it is inflated in 

 singing ; breast above pale dull white, tinged with rose colour, and on the sides 

 shaded off to yellowish white, and into greyish white below ; back reddish 

 brown, but tinged with olive on its lower part. The wings extend to within an 

 inch and a half of the end of the tail. Expanse 8| inches. The first primary 

 extremely short ; the 2nd and 3rd of equal length and the longest ; edge of 

 outer quill white ; underneath grey ; greater and lesser wing coverts reddish 

 brown ; primaries pale brown, narrowly edged with chestnut ; the secondaries 

 and tertiaries also pale brown, broadly edged with brighter chestnut than 

 the former ; tail somewhat rounded, graduated and brown j middle feathers 



