8 Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia. 



struck me as having a wonderfully fine song, richer and more 

 melodious than that of the Blue-throat, and scarcely inferior 

 to that of a Nightingale. I shot him to be quite sure that 

 he was only a Blue-throat, and was astonished to pick up a 

 fine male Ruby -throated Warbler. I did not meet with this 

 bird again until I reached Yen-e-saisk' on my return journey. 

 It was then the 16th of August, and I was exploring the reedy 

 swamps near the river. My attention was attracted to a bird 

 hidden among the Carices, which was uttering a very loud harsh 

 cry, like tic, tic, tic. After waiting some time I got a shot 

 at it in a tall bunch of rushes. I felt quite sure that the bird 

 was a large Acrocephalus, and was astonished to find a second 

 male Ruby-throat. 



SAXICOLA (ENANTHE (Linn,). 



The Wheatear arrived at our winter quarters on the 3rd 

 of June, and was common as far north as we went. 



PRATINCOLA INDICA, Blyth. 



The Indian form of the Stonechat, with pure white un- 

 spotted rump and nearly black axillaries, was rare. I noticed 

 it first on the llth of June on the Arctic circle, and after- 

 wards in lat. 67. 



SYLVIA CURRUCA, Linn., subspecies affinis, Blyth. 



I first noticed the Lesser Whitethroat on the 8th of June, 

 and did not observe it further north than lat. 67. In ' Stray 

 Feathers/ iii. p. 372, Mr. Brooks endeavours to show that 

 the Indian bird differs from ours. Of the six differences 

 which he there points out I cannot detect any but the first. 

 There is no doubt that in the eastern bird the wing is generally 

 somewhat more rounded than in the western form; but whether 

 this is sufficient to entitle the two forms to specific rank I 

 feel considerable doubt. In ten skins from England, Norway, 

 Heligoland, Russia, Turkey, and Asia Minor, the second pri- 

 mary is decidedly longer than the sixth. In one skin from 

 India and one from the Yen-e-say' this is also the case. In 

 five skins from India and five skins from the Yen-e-say' the 

 second primary is shorter than the sixth, but longer than the 

 seventh ; and in one skin from Cawnpore and one from Be- 



