410 BRITISH BIRDS. 



SYLVIA CURRUCA. 



LESSER WHITETHROAT. 



(PLATE 10.) 



Ficedula curruca gamila, Bn'ss. Orn. iii. p. 384(1760). 



Motacilla curruca, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 329 (1706) ; et auctorum plurimorum 



(Latham), (Bechstein), (Temminck),(Naumann), (Bonaparte), (Schlegel), (Gray), 



(Newton), (Dresser}, fyc. 



? Motacilla dumetorum, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 334 (1766). 

 Sylvia curruca (Linn.), Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 155 (1769). 

 Sylvia sylviella, Lath. Gen. Syn. Sitppl. i. p. 287 (1787). 

 ? Sylvia dumetornm (Linn.), Lath. 2nd. Orn. ii. p. 522 (1790). 

 Motacilla sylviella (Lath.), Turton, Linn. Gen. Syst. Nat. i. p. 588 (1800). 

 Silvia garrula, Bechst. Natura. Deutschl. 2nd ed. ii. p. 540 (1807). 

 Curruca garrula (Bechst.), Koch, Syst. baier. Zool. i. p. 157 (1816). 

 Curruca sylviella (Lath.), Fleming, Brit. An. p. 71 (1828). 

 Curruca dumetorum (Linn.}, Brehm, Vwj. Deutschl. p. 422 (1831). 

 Curraca molaria, Brehm, Vb'g. Deutschl. p. 422 (1831). 

 Ficedula garrula (Bechst.), Blyth, Rennie'* Field Nat. i. p. 352 (1833). 



The Lesser Whitethroat was first made known to British ornithologists 

 by Latham, from specimens obtained near Bulstrode, in Buckinghamshire, 

 by the Rev. Mr. Lightfoot, who sent them to that ornithologist, who 

 described them in the Supplement to his ' General Synopsis/ and gave a 

 figure of the bird, its nest and eggs (i. p. 185, pi. cxiii.). It is probable, 

 however, that the bird had already been noticed in this country by Gilbert 

 White, who accurately describes it in a letter to his friend Mr. Barrington. 

 Among continental ornithologists this bird appears to have been known to 

 Linnseus, Brisson, Buffon, and Scopoli. In this country the bird is a 

 somewhat local one, and becomes very rare in the west of England and in 

 Wales. Montagu states that in Lincolnshire, in his time, the bird was 

 more abundant than in any other part of England; but now it appears to 

 be only local there. In the Channel Islands it is only found in Guernsey, 

 and is by no means numerous. In Scotland the Lesser Whitethroat is also 

 very local in its distribution. According to Gray it is sparingly met with 

 in parts of Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, and Dumbarton, and occurs as far 

 north as the middle of Argyleshire. It is equally local on the east 

 coast. Three or four specimens have been observed on the Shetlands ; but 

 the bird appears to be absent from the rest of the Scotch islands, never 

 having been met with in the Hebrides. In Ireland, although its congener 

 the Common Whitethroat is so widely distribiited, there is no reliable 

 evidence of the occurrence of the present species. 



