99 



ORPHEAN WARBLER. 



Sylvia Orphea, TEMMINCK. 



" grisea, YIELLOT. 



Curruca Orphea, GOULD. 



Sylvia. Sylva A wood. Orphea. Orpheus A famous musician 



of antiquity. 



THIS species is a common one in the southern parts of 

 France, and is very abundant in Italy, particularly in Lom- 

 bardy and Piedmont, also in Tuscany; and is sometimes 

 found in Switzerland and the adjacent districts. 



One specimen of this bird, an 'avant courier' it may be 

 hoped of others, was shot on the 6th. of July, 1848, in a 

 small plantation near Wetherby, in the West Riding of 

 Yorkshire, and preserved by Mr. Graham, of York, for William 

 Mordaunt Edward Milner, Esq., M.P. for York. It was a 

 female, and appeared to have been sitting the same summer: 

 the male bird was also observed with it for a considerable 

 time previously. An account of this interesting occurrence 

 was published in the 'Zoologist,' pages 3107-8-9-10, 



Its food is composed of insects and berries. 



The Orphean Warbler builds sometimes in lo\v bushes, often 

 in company with others of the same species, and not uncom- 

 monly in holes of rocks and walls, as also in the eaves and 

 roofs of deserted or isolated houses and buildings. 



The eggs are four or five in number, nearly white, irregu- 

 larly marked with yellowish blots and brown spots, chiefly at 

 the larger end. 



Male; length, a little over six inches; bill, black, thick, 

 and very strong, the upper mandible very much grooved, the 

 lower one yellowish brown at its base; head on the crown, 

 brownish black, fading into the colour of the back; neck on 

 the back, and nape, cinereous brown, with a tinge of olive; 



