64 ERITHACUS 



It frequents groves, gardens, and is especially fond of the 

 vicinity of man. Its sweet song may be heard not only during 

 the breeding season but also after the autumn moult, through- 

 out the winter during fine weather. It places its nest in a 

 bank, amongst ivy, in holes of trees, on a shelf in an outhouse, 

 or in an inhabited house, in an old shoe or an old pot, or in 

 almost any odd place ; and deposits from March to May 5 to 8 

 eggs pale reddish white, spotted and blotched with red, some- 

 times nearly pure white, measuring O76 by 0*60. Individuals 

 vary greatly in intensity of colour, and examples having the 

 red breast very dark, from Teneriffe, have been separated 

 specifically (Erithacus superbus Koenig), but in my opinion 

 without sufficient reason, as I have examined central European 

 examples as richly coloured. 





 96. PERSIAN REDBREAST. 



ERITHACUS HYRCANUS. 



Erithacus Tiyrcanus, Blanf. Ibis., p. 79 (1874) ; id. E. Pers. ii. p. 160, 

 pi. xv. fig. 2 ; Dresser, B. of E. ix. p. 47, pi. 644 ; Seebohm, Cat. 

 B. Br. Mus. V. p. 301. 



$ ad. (Persia). Resembles E. rubecula, but the red on the breast and 

 throat is deeper in colour and the upper tail-coverts are chestnut-brown or 

 dull ferruginous and not olivaceous. Culmen 0'65, wing 3*8, tail 2 '35, 

 tarsus 0'5 inch. The female does not appreciably differ from the male, 

 and individual specimens vary considerably in the tone of colour of the 

 throat and upper breast. 



Hob. The Caucasus eastward to Persia, and appears to breed 

 throughout that area. In the winter it passes south, but we do 

 not yet know where its winter quarters are. 



In habits, song, and nidification, it does not differ from 

 its western congener, and its eggs are not separable from those 

 of that species. 



97, TEMMINCK'S KEDBREAST. 

 ERITHACUS KOMADORI. 



Erithacus komadori (Teinm.), PI. Col. No. 570 (1824) ; (Temm. and 

 Schlegel), Faun. Jap. Aves. p. 55, pi. xxi. C ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. v. p. 298. 



Aka-hige, Jap. 



$ ad. Upper parts orange chestnut ; lores, cheeks, throat, chin, breast 



and flanks margined with white ; rest of the under parts white ; 



under wing-coverts black margined with white ; axillaries white 



