THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 305 



ture of S. palustris in the faded and worn plumage ; it turned out 

 to be Motacilla (Sylvia) salicaria (Pallas, Zoogr. Eoss.-Asiat. i. 492). 

 The dress of this example is unusually worn and faded ; it was 

 undoubtedly a bird of the preceding year, just about to commence its 

 first complete autumn moult. All the upper parts are light greyish 

 brown, with a very slight inclination towards olive-yellow. The 

 lower parts are dull whitish, the sides of the neck and upper breast 

 have a faint touch of the colour of the back, and there is a blurred 

 whitish streak above the eye. All the smaller plumage, particu- 

 larly on the lower parts, is very dense almost fur-like. 



The flight-feathers and rectrices are of a somewhat darker 

 greyish brown than the back, and their blurred edges are less 

 light ; the outer pair of tail-feathers are dull whitish, the outer 

 webs being particularly light. The feet and bill of the freshly 

 killed bird were of a light whitish flesh colour, the upper mandible 

 and tip of the bill being brownish. 



The measurements of the bird are as follows : Total length, 

 4'48 ins. (114 mm.) ; length of wing, 2 ins. (51 mm.) ; length of tail, 

 177 in. (45 mm.); length of tail uncovered by wings, T06 in. 

 (27 mm.). The bill is '33 in. (9 mm.) long, the tarsus strong and 

 78 in. (10 mm.) in length. In the wing, which is very abruptly 

 truncate, the second flight-feather is of the same length as the 

 seventh, the third and fourth are of equal length and form the 

 point of the wing, the fifth very slightly receding from the latter. 

 The point of the wing projects only '35 in. (9 mm.) beyond the 

 longest posterior flight-feather. In the tail, which is double rounded, 

 the central and outer pairs of feathers are '12 in. (3 mm.) shorter 

 than the rest. 



This bird is an interesting novelty to Europe. According to 

 Seebohm, its breeding range extends through Turkestan, Kashmir, 

 and south-eastern Siberia. Pallas has met with it on the Lena, 

 extending to the northern limit of willow shrubs. 



The eggs of this species are very pretty, like those of other species 

 comprised in the hypolais group ; they have a delicate greyish pink 

 ground colour, sprinkled with many fine and a few larger black dots, 

 some of which coalesce into short dashes, and sometimes into fine 

 hair-like lines. Examples are also found in which the ground colour 

 is white, and which in addition to the black dots have small grey 

 blotches. In form the eggs are roundish, their length being '59 in. 

 (15 mm.) and their breadth -47 in. (12 mm.). 





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