80 SYLVIA 



117. SPECTACLED WARBLER. 

 SYLVIA CONSPICILLATA. 



Sylvia conspicillata, Marm. fide Temm. Man. d'Orn. i. p. 210 (1820) ; 

 Temm. Pt. Col. 6, fig. 1 ; Dresser, ii. p. 393, pi. 60 ; Seebohm, Cat. 

 B. Br. Mus. v. p. 22 ; S. passerina, (Gmel.) fide Temm. Man. 

 rVOrn., i. p. 213. 



Babillard a lunettes, French ; Friolcncos, Span. ; Sterpazzola- 

 sarda, Ital. 



ad. (Sicily). Crown and sides of head to below the eye slate-grey ; 

 lores and a narrow frontal line blackish ; back brownish ash washed with 

 grey on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; tail dark brown ; the outer 

 feather white with a brown shaft, the next two tipped with white ; wing 

 feathers margined with rufous ; chin, sides of -throat, and centre of abdomen 

 white, throat otherwise ashy blue ; lower breast flanks and under tail- 

 coverts rosy rufous ; bill dark horn, yellowish at the base ; legs yellowish 

 brown ; iris brown, edge of eyelids red. Culmen 0'4, wing 2*25, tail 2'1, 

 tarsus 0*7 inch. The female is duller and paler, crown pale ash, the feathers 

 with brown tips ; sides of head and lores darker and greyer ; under parts 

 white, the breast and flanks washed with rosy rufous. The young 

 resemble the female but are browner and have no grey on the head ; wings 

 and tail with broad rnfous margins : throat white; rest of under parts pale 

 rufous buff, becoming nearly white on the abdomen. 



Hab. The Mediterranean area as far east as Palestine and 



west to the Canaries and Cape Verd Islands. In the southern 



portion of its range it is a resident, but in south Europe it 

 migrates further south in the autumn. 



It frequents dry localities where there is low scrub, and is 

 shy and secretive, but otherwise resembles the Whitethroat in 

 its habits. Its song is short and pleasing and is uttered from 

 the top of a bush or when the bird is hovering in the air. Its 

 nest, which is loosely but neatly constructed of grass-bents and 

 lined with horsehair, is placed low down in a bush. The eggs, 

 4 or 5 in number, are pale greenish grey, minutely freckled 

 with greenish brown, and are usually deposited in April or May. 

 In size they average about 0'64 by 0*49. 



118. MENETRIES'S WARBLER. 

 SYLVIA MYSTACEA. 



Syhia mystacea, Menetr. Cat. Rais. p. 34 (1832) ; Dresser, ix. p. 59, pi. 

 647 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. MUP. v. p. 20, (partim) ; S. rubescens, 

 Blanf., Ibis, 1874, p. 77. 



