RUFOUS WARBLER. 419 



and that it was exceedingly thin. Its visit was probably occasioned by 

 the strong southerly wind which had prevailed for several days/' 



To the above occurrences must be added a third example, shot in a 

 turnip-field near Slapton in Devonshire, on the 12th of October 1876. 

 It was recorded in the ' Zoologist ' for that year (p. 5179) by Mr. Henry 

 Nicholls, who states that it appears to be a bird of the year, and, curiously 

 enough, was taken within a short distance of the specimen obtained in the 

 year 1859. 



The Rufous Warbler has a very restricted geographical distribution, its 

 range being confined to the basin of the Mediterranean and eastwards into 

 Turkestan. Even in this small area it is subject to considerable variation, 

 the eastern form being much greyer on the whole of the upper parts, 

 especially on the central tail-feathers, than the western form, and the 

 Abyssinian form being smaller than either. The typical form appears to 

 be the one that has occurred in our islands, and is a common summer 

 visitor to Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Egypt, and Palestine south of Bevrout. 

 It is known to winter in Abyssinia, and has been said to have been pro- 

 cured at that season of the year on the Gold Coast. 



The small form is said to be a resident in Abyssinia, and is generally 

 known as S. galactodes, var. minor. The grey-backed form S. galactodes, 

 var. familiar is, breeds in Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine north of Bevrout, 

 the Caucasus, Persia, and Turkestan. It winters in Scinde, Baluchistan, 

 and Rajpootana. This form has occurred accidentally on Heligoland; 

 and in the museum at Florence are several examples from Nice and Genoa. 



As might be expected of a bird which only accidentally wanders north 

 of the basin of the Mediterranean, the Rufous Warbler is a migratory 

 species which arrives very late at its breeding-quarters, and leaves early 

 for the south in autumn. In Greece and Asia Minor I found it a very 

 common bird, and shot several examples as they sat in the lowest branches 

 of the olive-trees in the vineyards. Even in these southern latitudes it is 

 a bird of the plains, and was to be fouud in company Math Cetti's Warbler, 

 Bee-eaters, and the Isabelline Chat, but was never observed in the pine- 

 region, where the Wood-Lark, the Chaffinch, and the Wheatear were 

 breeding. It did not arrive until the last week in April, five weeks after 

 the Swallows. Although in some respects this bird resembles the Reed- 

 Warblers, his song is quite different, and reminded me very much of that 

 of the Robin. The bird is very active, and is often seen perched in a 

 somewhat conspicuous position, moving his tail up and down like a Wag- 

 tail. In flying it often spreads its tail, showing very conspicuously the 

 contrast of thj3 black and white on the outside feathers. We had several 

 nests brought us early in June, and remarked that in most of them was a 

 piece of the cast skin of a snake. The Greeks told us that this bird always 

 weaves a small portion into the lining of the nest, to act as a charm to 



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