ORPHEUS WARBLER. 345 



brown ; irides brown ; all the top of the head, around 

 the eyes and including the ear-coverts, nearly black ; 

 neck, back, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts ash-grey ; 

 wing and tail-feathers clove-brown, with lighter-coloured 

 edges ; the shafts darker shining brown ; outer tail-feather 

 on each side brown over the inner half of the broad web, 

 the remainder white, the dark shaft very conspicuous. 

 All the under surface of neck and body white, tinged on 

 the sides with grey ; flanks, and underwing and tail-coverts 

 bufiy white ; under surface of tail-feathers ash-grey ; legs 

 and toes dark brown ; claws very short. The whole length 

 of the bird is six inches and three-eighths ; bill, from the 

 point to the gape, five-eighths ; wing, from the anterior 

 bend to the end of the longest quill-feather, three inches ; 

 the first feather very short ; the second and fifth nearly 

 equal in length, but shorter than the third, fourth, and fifth 

 feathers, which are also nearly uniform in length, and the 

 longest in the wing. 



Sir William Milner describes the female in his posses- 

 sion as having " the beak black, and very strong ; the whole 

 upper part of the plumage dark ash-coloured brown ; the 

 outer feather of the tail white ; the second on each side 

 edged with dirty white ; the rest of a brownish black ; 

 chin dirty white ; throat and belly brownish white ; under 

 surface of the wings and vent light brown ; legs very strong, 

 toes and claws black. The whole length six inches three 

 lines." 



The young birds of the year resemble the female, and 

 M. Temminck thinks it probable that old males in autumn 

 lose the decided black on the head, since none are then 

 observed so marked in colour ; or, that the male birds seen 

 at that time are all young birds of the year, the old birds 

 quitting the breeding-ground sooner than their own young, 

 as is the case with most of our migratory warblers. 



