28 Rev. H. B. Txistram on Sylviads. 



II. — Notes on Sylviads. 

 By the Rev. H. B. Tristram, LL.D., F.R.S. 



The observations of my correspondent and indefatigable orni- 

 thological friend, Mr. W. E. Brooks, C.E., have long lx;en es- 

 pecially devoted to the Sylviad group as represented in India. 

 I transmitted to him, to assist him in comparison, various 

 specimens of European Sylviadae from different localities. 

 Mr. Brooks has drawn my attention to some peculiarities and 

 variations in the specimens of Phyllopneuste rufa and Ph. 

 trochilus^ and suggested that there must be two species con- 

 founded under the name of Ph. rufa. I have, in consequence 

 of my friend's remarks, gone very carefully through the group, 

 examining the large series in the collection of Mr. Gumey, as 

 well as my own and several others, and especially the Cam- 

 bridge collection, which includes the type of Mr. Strickland's 

 Phyllopneuste hrevirostris. This specimen I have examined 

 with the utmost care, and compared it with all my Holy-Land 

 specimens. I observe, by its label, that Mr. Strickland seems 

 latterly to have rejected his own species, and classed it as Ph. 

 rufa. The examination, however, of a large series from the 

 Holy Land forces me to the conclusion that there exist in 

 Syria and Asia two distinct and cognate forms, side by side, 

 each possessing certain recognizable diagnostics. 



1. Phyllojmeuste hrevirostris, Strickl. — Long. tot. 4'75, 

 al. 2'4, caud. 2*15, tars. '75, rosti-. a rict. "4. Tarsi dark, as 

 in Ph. rufa ; but whereas in Ph. rufa tlie second Aving-primary 

 is equal to the seventh, in Ph. hrevirostris it is shorter, and 

 generally less than the eighth primary. This may seem a 

 trifling diagnosis ; but it holds good in all the specimens I 

 obtained (about fifteen) in Palestine, and I never foimd the 

 like elsewhere. 



2. Phyllojyneusfe rufa (Lath.). — This species is still more 

 abundant in Avintcr in Syria than the former. I still possess 

 of the number I collected nine specimens, all agreeing pre- 

 cisely with English, German, Algerian, and Greek examples. 

 I found it in the same localities as the formei- species, which, 

 after all, may be looked upon as a large race of P. rufa, with 

 rounder wings. I And no difficulty in discriminating the two. 



8. Phyllopneuste trochiluSj Ij. — The range of our common 

 willow-wren extends into Syria and Asia Minor, without ex- 

 hibiting variations greater than in English specimens, though, 

 of course, it is there only a winter visitant. It is also ex- 

 tremely common in Algeria and in the oases of the Sahara in 

 Avinter. 



4. I possess from Algeria and the Sahara four specimens 



