114 AEDON 



AEDON, Boie, 1826. 



164. RUFOUS WARBLER. 



AEDON GALACTODES. 



Aedon galactodes, (Teinm.) Man. d'Orn. i. p. 182 (1820) ; (Gould), B. of E. 

 ii. pi. 112 ; id. B. of Gt. Brit. ii. pi. 53 ; Newton, i. p. 355 ; Dresser, 

 ii. p. 547, pi. 85, fig. 1 ; (Seebohm), Cat. B. Br. Mus. v. p. 34 ; 

 Saimders, p. 73 ; Lilford iii. p. 30, pi. 15. 



Rouxinol do matto, Portug. ; Alzacola, Span. ; Rusignuolo 

 africano, Ital. 



ad (Spain). Upper parts dull brownish rufous, the rump and 

 upper tail-coverts nearly fox-red ; quills dark brown margined with rufous, 

 the inner ones tipped with dull white, the wing-coverts margined with 

 pale sandy brown ; tail rounded, red, the central feathers foxy red 

 throughout, the rest tipped with white, which broadens towards the 

 outside ones, and with a sub-apical black patch ; eye-stripe buffy white ; 

 lores and a patch behind the eye blackish brown ; under parts greyish 

 white, sides of neck and flanks washed with pale brown ; bill dull brown, 

 base of lower mandible yellowish ; legs pale brown ; iris dark brown. 

 Culmen 0*72, wing 3'5, tail 2'12 tarsus 1*0 inch ; first primary slightly shorter 

 than the coverts, second 0'2 shorter than the 3rd, third, fourth, and fifth 

 nearly equal and longest The female and young do not differ from the 

 male except that the latter have the quills and wing-coverts margined 

 with pale fulvous. 



Hob. Spain, Portugal, Palestine, and North Africa as far 

 as Abyssinia where it is resident ; winters in Africa as far 

 south as the Gold Coast ; has occurred in Italy and twice in 

 Great Britain. 



Frequents dry, arid, localities, vineyards, reed thickets, 

 gardens, and prefers shady and dense underwood, and is 

 usually seen on the ground or not far above it, and is as a rule 

 shy. When alighting on a twig it spreads its tail showing 

 its peculiar markings, and on the ground it runs briskly. Its 

 song is soft, low, and mellifluous, and is usually uttered from the 

 top of a bush or low tree. It feeds on insects which it 

 generally obtains on the ground. Its nest is placed in the fork 

 or branch of a low tree or bush from one to six feet from the 

 ground, without any attempt at concealment, and it has been 

 found on the ground amongst the roots of a tree. It is 

 constructed of tamarisk-shoots, grass, rootlets, &c., lined with 

 wool, hair, or feathers, and a small piece of serpent's skin is 



