90 LEPTOP(E(JILE 



have occurred in Greece and Palestine, but these records are 

 open to doubt. 



In general habits it resembles its congener M. widatus, but 

 its song differs somewhat in not being so grating and is said to 

 be very characteristic ; its call-note is a single short tick. Its 

 nest resembles that of M. undatns but is more looselv con- 

 structed of dried bents and lined with horsehair and a feather 

 or two. Its eggs, which are deposited in June or July, are dull 

 greenish white clouded and blotched with oil-green and with a 

 black spot or scratch or two. 



LEPTOPffiCILE, Severtz, 1873. 



130. SEVERTZOFF'S WARBLER. 



LEPTOPCECILE SOPHLffi. 



Tjeptopcecile sopJiiw, Severtz. Tur. Jevot. pp. 60, 135, pi. viii. figs. 8, 9, 

 (1873) ; Gould, B. of Asia, pi. xxviii. ; Gadow, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 viii. p. 86 ; Pleske, Prjevalsky's Reisen. Vogel. ii. p. 85, Taf. vi. fig. 

 3, 4 ; Gates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds i. p. 246. 



ad. (Turkestan). Forehead and a broad supercilium buffy white ; 

 crown chestnut, slightly tinged with cobalt ; back and wing-coverts bluish 

 grey ; rump rich cobalt-blue ; upper tail-coverts duller ; wings and tail 

 brown externally washed with cobalt, external primary with the outer web 

 white ; sides of head and under parts vinaceous chestnut richly washed 

 with bright cobalt ; centre of abdomen buffy white ; bill black ; legs 

 blackish brown ; iris red. Culmen 0*4, wing 1 '95, tail 2'1, tarsus 0'7 inch ; 

 first quill large, 0'54 shorter than the second which is a little shorter than the 

 tenth, fourth and fifth equal and longest. The female has the crown 

 brown, the blue confined to the rump except that the back is a little tinged 

 with blue, and the under parts are buffy grey. The young bird resembles 

 the female but has the crown chestnut-brown ; the under parts are warmer 

 in tinge, and the throat and flanks are slightly marked with blue. 



Hob. Turkestan east to the mountains of Tibet and the 

 province of Kansu. Examples from Tibet are as a rule richer 

 and deeper coloured than from Turkestan, and again those 

 from the bare desert localities are paler. 



Is a resident throughout its range inhabiting the mountains 

 to an altitude of 13,000 feet where it frequents dense bush- 

 covered localities, being less seldom found amongst trees. Its 

 call-note is a low chirp, but I do not find any record of its 

 possessing any song worthy of the name. Prjevalsky found an 

 empty nest placed at an altitude of about seven feet in a juniper, 

 which was round, with the entrance hole at the side near the 



