SYLVIA 75 



Asia east to Turkestan, north to Western Siberia, south to 

 India, where it is rare. 



Frequents gardens and groves, and is not as a rule shy. Its 

 song is short and somewhat monotonous, often uttered when 

 flying jerkily from bush to bush. Its food consists of insects 

 and their larvae. Its nest is placed amongst grass or weeds or 

 on a bush, usually not high above the ground, and is lightly 

 constructed of dried grass-bents and plant- stems, lined with 

 fine bents and occasionally a few horsehairs, and the eggs, 4 to 

 6 in number, are usually deposited in May and are greenish 

 white speckled and spotted with greyish olive and mottled or 

 marbled with pale brownish : in size they measure about 073 

 by 0-48. 



Specimens from Palestine, the Altai range, Persia, Turkestan, 

 and Somaliland (S. fusdpilea) are as a rule a trifle larger, 

 darker and greyer, but are not even sub-specifically distinct. 



111. HIMALAYAN WHITETHROAT. 

 SYLVIA ALTHLffiA. 



Sylvia althata, Hume, Stray Feathers, vii. p. 60 (1878) ; Pleske Orn. 

 Eoss. p. 99, pi. 1, figs. 1, 2 ; Dresser, ix. p. 57, pi. 646, fig. 2 ; 

 Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. Mus. v. p. 20 ; Gates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds, i. 

 p. 397. 



ad. (Transcaspia). Upper parts dark bluish grey, tinged with brown 

 on the back ; wings and tail blackish brown ; outer tail-feathers white 

 except on the basal portion of the inner \veb, and the central tail-feathers 

 lighter brown than the others ; under parts white, flanks washed with 

 grey ; bill dark horn ; legs plumbeous brown ; iris light brown. Culmen 

 0'6, wing 2'65, tail 2'4, tarsus 0'85 inch ; second primary intermediate 

 between the sixth and seventh. The sexes do not appreciably differ, 

 except that the female is generally the smaller. In the autumn the upper 

 parts are bluer in colour, and the flanks are deeper grey. 



Halj. Transcaspia, Turkestan, Persia, and Kashmir, wintering 

 in India, probably as far south as Ceylon. 



It inhabits bush-covered localities and is found in the 

 mountains as high as 9,000 feet. Its nest resembles that of 

 >S r . cinerea and its eggs, usually 5 in number, are deposited in 

 May, are dull white finely marked with greenish grey, and 

 measure about 0'67 by 0'53. 



