292 SYLVIAD^E. 



till June ; and it has been seen on the shores of Greenland 

 by Fabricius and others. Sir James Ross, in the Natural 

 History appended to the narrative of his last Voyage to the 

 Arctic Regions, says of the Wheatear, " One of these little 

 birds was observed flying round the ship in Felix Harbour, 

 70 N., 91 53' W., on the 2nd of May, 1830, and was 

 found dead alongside the next morning : having arrived 

 before the ground was sufficiently uncovered to enable it 

 to procure its food, it had perished from want. It is the 

 only instance of this bird having been met with in Arctic 

 America, in the course of our several expeditions to those 

 regions." 



The Wheatear is abundant on the European Continent, 

 and very numerous on the northern shores of the Mediter- 

 ranean in spring, and again in autumn. M. Temminck says 

 it is found in Dalmatia and the Morea ; it is found also in 

 Sicily and Crete ; Mr. Strickland observed it at Smyrna 

 in April ; and the Zoological Society have received speci- 

 mens from Keith Abbott, Esq., obtained at Trebizond and 

 Erzeroum, the most eastern localities, as far as I am aware, 

 that have yet been quoted for this species. 



The adult male in the breeding season has the beak, the 

 space between the beak and the eye, a small line under the 

 eye, and the ear-coverts, black ; the irides dark brown ; the 

 space above the base of the beak, a narrow line over the 

 eye, and a small space above the ear-coverts, white ; the 

 head, back, and scapulars, of a fine light grey ; wing-coverts 

 and quill-feathers almost black : upper tail-coverts white ; 

 the two middle tail-feathers, with the proximal third, white, 

 the distal two-thirds black; all the other tail-feathers 

 have the proximal two-thirds white, the distal one-third 

 black : chin and throat buff colour ; belly, flanks, vent, 

 and under tail-coverts, pale buffy white ; legs, toes, and 

 claws, black. 



