THE BRITISH HEDGE-SPARROW. 489 



end first week Nov. Probably regular in small numbers elsewhere 

 on east and perhaps west coasts, but only other specimens so far 

 proved are Muckle Flugga Lt. (Shetland) one April 6, 1918 (Scot. 

 Nat., 1919, p. 127), Auskerry (Orkney), one Oct. 1, 1913 (i.e., 1914, 

 p. 8), Butt of Lewis (0. H.) one Sept. 22 and one Oct. 9, 1914 (t.c., 

 1915, p. 205), Isle of May (Forth) one (out of six) Sept. 24 and one 

 Oct. 9, 1912 (t.c., 1913, pp. 51, 53), Spurn (Yorks.) one Sept. 7, 1882 

 (Brit. B., m, p. 314) and one Oct. 9, 1911 (t.c., vi, p. 121), Blakeney 

 (Norfolk) one Oct. 17, 1919 (t.c., xra, p. 128). 



DISTRIBUTION. Abroad. Europe from about lat. 70 north to 

 Mediterranean, east to Black Sea and Urals, in south Spain and 

 south-east Europe only winter-visitor. Partly migratory, visiting 

 (rarely) north-west Africa, Asia Minor, and Syria. Replaced in 

 Portugal by closely-allied form. 



200. Prunella modularis occidentalis (Hart.) THE BRITISH 

 HEDGE-SPARROW. 



ACCENTOK MODULARIS OCCIDENTALIS Hartert, Brit. B., in, p. 313 (March, 



1910 British Isles). 



Accentor modularis (Linnaeus), Yarrell, i, p. 301 ; Saunders, p. 93. 



The British Hedge-Sparrow (Prunella m. occidentalis}. 



DESCRIPTION. A dult male. Winter. Crown, nape and hind-neck 

 smoky-grey washed brown and streaked brown-black ; mantle and 

 scapulars varying from warm brown to rufous-brown boldly streaked 

 black -brown ; back, rump and upper tail-coverts varying from 

 uniform olivaceous -brown to rufous-brown with an olivaceous tinge ; 

 lores and under eyes brown-grey, feathers with short mesial streaks 

 of whitish-grey ; line over eye and sides of neck slate-grey tinged 

 brown ; ear-coverts brown streaked whitish ; chin, throat, breast 

 and axillaries slate-grey, hoary on chin and very narrowly tipped 

 brown on breast ; sides of breast and flanks yellowish-brown to 

 rufous-brown streaked on flanks black-brown and rufous-brown ; 

 belly greyish-white ; under tail-coverts dark brown widely fringed 

 buff ; tail black-brown fringed on outer webs rufous-brown ; 

 primaries and secondaries same but inner webs fringed greyish- 

 white and innermost secondaries with broader rufous -brown fringes 



