THE BLUE-THROATS. 281 



Adult Female. Different from the male, and wanting the 

 blue on the throat, which is creamy-white, with black along 

 the sides and across the fore-neck, slightly tinged with orange- 

 buff on the chest, which is also mottled with blackish centres 

 to the feathers. Total length, 5-3 inches; wing, 2 '8. 



Range in Great Britain. Occurs in the southern and eastern 

 counties of England mostly on the autumn migration, but has 

 also been taken in the spring. In Norfolk, in 1881 and 1884, a 

 considerable number were observed in September. It has 

 never been recorded from Ireland, but three instances are 

 known of its capture in Scotland. 



Range outside the British Islands. Breeds in the high north of 

 Europe and Asia, within the Arctic Circle, and at elevated 

 situations in the birch regions in the central portions of 

 Europe and Asia ; it nests in Turkestan and Yarkand, and 

 has been found in Kamtchatka and even in Alaska. It 

 winters in India and Ceylon and the Burmese countries, as 

 well as in Southern China. In Africa it has been found as 

 far south as the equatorial provinces, and regularly winters in 

 Abyssinia. 



Habits. The Blue-throats seem to be everywhere swamp- 

 loving birds, and the specimens of C. cyanecula which we pro- 

 cured near the Neusiedler Lake in May, 1891, were noticed only 

 in the dense beds of dwarf willows, where the ground was still 

 moist under foot. Here only the males were observed, as they 

 came occasionally to the top of a bush and uttered a short song. 

 The females we never saw, and this accords with the testimony 

 of other naturalists, that she is always more shy and retiring than 

 her mate. Mr. Seebohm says that in Scandinavia the Blue-throat 

 is one of the commonest of birds, and is not very shy on its first 

 arrival. He writes : " His first attempts at singing are harsh 

 and grating, like the notes of the Sedge-Warbler, or the still 

 harsher ones of the White-throat ; these are followed by several 

 variations in a louder and rather more melodious tone, repeated 

 over and over again, somewhat in the fashion of a Song-Thrush. 

 After this you might fancy the little songster was trying to mimic 

 the various alarm notes of all the birds he can remember : the chiz- 

 zit of the Wagtail, the tip-tip-tip of the Blackbird, and especially 



