MELIZOPHILUS 89 



with rufous buff ; external tail-feathers white, except at the base ; under 

 parts pale chestnut, the middle of the abdomen whitish and an indistinct 

 white line borders the plumbeous ash on the sides of the head and crosses 

 the chin ; upper mandible light brown, lower mandible bright yellow ; legs 

 pale lemon yellow ; iris bright yellow. Culmen 0*45, wing 2*10, tail 2*20, 

 tarsus 075 inch. The female differs only in being paler especially on the 

 under parts. In winter the upper parts are washed with sandy buff, the 

 rufous margins .on the wings are broader and the under parts are paler. 



Hah North-western Africa where it breeds in Algeria, 

 passing the winter in the southern Sahara. 



In general habits it resembles the Dartford Warbler 

 frequenting bush- covered localities. Dr. Koenig found it 

 breeding in the Aures mountains in May. Its nest is placed 

 in a bush, usually a rosemary, near the ground and is closely 

 and firmly constructed of vegetable bents and fibres, and the 

 eggs usually 4 in number resemble those of the Dartford 

 Warbler being spotted and dotted with olivaceous on a pale 

 green ground and in size average 16 by 13 millimetres. 



129. MARMORA'S WARBLER. 

 MELIZOPHILUS SARDUS. 



Melizophilus sardus, (Marm.) fide Temm. Man. d'Orn. i. p. 205 (1820) ; 

 (Gould) B. of Eur. ii. pi. 127 ; Dresser, ii. p. 447, pi. 70 ; (Seebohm) 

 Cat. B. Br. Mus. v. p.~35. 



Pitchou sardc, French ; Magnanina sarda, Ital. 



<$ ad. (Sardinia). Upper parts dark slate-grey, blackish on the crown 

 and sides of head ; Avings and tail blackish with slate-grey margins, the 

 outer rectrix externally margined with white ; under parts dull slate-grey, 

 the abdomen dull white laterally washed with brown ; feathers on chin 

 and throat with whitish margins ; bill dark horn, the lower mandible 

 yellow at the base ; legs yellowish brown ; iris brown, edge of eyelid red. 

 Culmen 0'4, wing 2*12, tail 2'05, tarsus O'Sinch. The female lias the upper 

 parts browner and duller, and the under parts dull brownish slate-grey with 

 a white spot in the centre of the abdomen. The young bird is distinguish- 

 able from that of J/. undatus in having the upper parts paler and lacking 

 the rusty brown tinge, and the under parts are conspicuously paler and 

 whiter. 



Hal. Portugal, the Balearic Isles, Corsica, Sardinia, and 

 Sicily, has been obtained in the peninsula of Sinai, and is said 

 by Loche to have occurred in Algeria. It has also been said to 



