1 9 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



especially rich in colour on the under tail-coverts ; axillaries 

 vinous like the flanks ; under wing-coverts white. 



NOTE. The large size of the Orphean Warbler is one of its chief charac- 

 ters when compared with that of the Whitethroats, as the wing is three 

 inches in length, but it might possibly be confounded with the Blackcap, 

 which sometimes equals it'in length of wing. Like the latter species it has 

 the first, or bastard, primary-quill rather long, equalling the length of the 

 primary-coverts, or extending as much as O'2 inch beyond them, and the 

 second primary is equal to the fifth, whereas in the Blackcap it is a little 

 longer than the sixth. The white throat, however, will always distinguish 

 the Orphean Warbler ; in the Blackcap, the throat is ashy-grey. 



Range in Great Britain. The two reported occurrences of this 

 species in England are scarcely satisfactory for its recognition 

 among British Birds, and the statements that the nest and eggs 

 have been taken in this country are quite unreliable. Sir 

 William Milner had in his collection a specimen said to have 

 been shot near Wetherby, in Yorkshire, in July, 1848, but, not- 

 withstanding that a pair of birds was stated to have been seen, 

 the authority for the genuineness of the occurrence is not all 

 that could be wished. The second instance of the capture of 

 an Orphean Warbler is said to have taken place near London, 

 when a young bird was caught at Holloway, in June, 1866, was 

 kept alive by Sergeant-Major Hanley for nearly six months, and 

 was identified as belonging to the present species by the late 

 Mr. Edward Blyth. It would have been more satisfactory if the 

 history of this specimen had been followed up, as is necessary 

 in the cases of all birds which may be kept as cage-birds at any 

 of our military stations in the Mediterranean, and, like the 

 Calandra Lark, gain a footing in the list of "British" species. 

 The occurrence of the present bird in England is the less likely 

 to happen, when it is considered that no specimen has ever 

 been recorded from the countries opposite to our own shores. 



Range outside the British Islands. The Orphean Warbler is 

 principally a bird of the south of Europe, being found in all 

 the Mediterranean countries as far east as Asia Minor and 

 Palestine, though Mr. Seebohm says that the birds of these 

 countries are intermediate between the west-European birds 

 and the Indian Orphean Warbler (Sylvia jerdoni}. It is a 

 common bird in Spain and Portugal, and extends northward 

 into Fiance, breeding sparingly in the Brenne district, and 



