THE WARBLERS 



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[ORDER: Pdsseriformes. FAMILY: Turdidce. SUB- FAMILY : /Sz/founceJ "* :'': 



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VA;..| 

 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[J. L. BONHOTE. W. FARREN. F. C. R. JOURDAIN. F. B. KIRKMAN. W. P. PYCRAFT. 



E. L. TURNER.] 



WHITETHROAT [Sylvia communis Latham. S. cinerea Bechst. Peggy- 

 whitethroat, nettle-creeper, splitstraw, windlestraw, nettlemonger, straw- 

 mouse. French, fauvette grise ; German, Dorn-Grasmiicke ; Italian, ster- 

 pazzola.] 



I. Description. The whitethroat can be distinguished at any age by the fact 

 that the ' bastard ' or first primary never extends beyond the tips of the primary 

 coverts, and by the pale chestnut edgings of the wing-coverts and secondaries. 

 (PL 47.) The male, in spring, has the upper parts brown, washed with ochre, save the 

 head, which is ashy grey, with a slight tinge of ochre. The tail feathers are sepia- 

 brown, margined with ochre, except the outermost, which are white, with an oblique 

 white band along the inner web. The wing-coverts are sepia-brown, those of the 

 median and major series having broad rust-coloured margins ; the inner secondaries 

 are similarly coloured, while the primaries have similar, but very narrow, margins 

 running along the free edge of each feather. The throat is pure white, the fore- 

 breast and abdomen whitish ; but the former is suffused with a delicate rosy buff 

 hue. The flanks are light brown and the under tail-coverts whitish buff. The iris 

 is light rusty buff, and the legs are of a buffish flesh-colour. After the autumn 

 moult the grey of the head is marked by a brown hue, and the rose-colour of the 

 breast is conspicuous by its absence. Length 5-5 in. [140 mm.]. The female differs 

 from the male chiefly in having the head brown, like the back, and the rest of the 

 plumage duller. The juvenile plumage resembles that of the adult, but is of a 

 darker brown above, while the major coverts and secondaries have decidedly redder 

 margins than in the adult. The tail feathers are also margined with brown, especi- 



VOL. II. A 



746c31.0 



