Contrihitions to tJie Ornithology of India, ^c. 199 



should expect few ornithologists to concur in this view ; are we 

 then to suppose that there are three species which interbreed, 

 and which are all winter visitants to the same localities? I 

 confess that I am myself unable to accept any such explanation, 



583 Us. — Sylvia delicatiila, Eartlauh. 



This pretty little sylvia which I have occasionally met with 

 in the Sirsa district, and have had sent me from Bhawulpore, 

 is one of the very commonest birds in the more barren portions 

 -of Sindh. 



As in the more desert portions of the Punjab, so throughout 

 vast similar tracts in Sindh, barren, sandy, and gravelly plains "^ 

 extend for miles, the only vegetation on which is the Booee 

 f^ (Erua boviij and the Lana (anabasis mtiUiflora) , These 

 plains are the favorite haunts of the Houbara, and in a- 

 mongst these bushes 8ylvia delicatnla abounds; occasionally 

 it is seen sitting on their tops, but more generally it is found 

 pecking amongst the fallen flowers at their roots. In and out of 

 these bushes, it runs looking for all the world like a little short- 

 tailed mouse, and when disturbed, it retreats precipitately into 

 the centre of the nearest bush, from which it is by no means easy 

 to flush it. At best it takes but a very short and feeble flight, 

 and its only note that I ever heard was a tiny twittering un- 

 worthy the name of a song. I was unable to ascertain whether 

 it was really a permanent resident ; but I was assured that it was 

 so, and that it bred in these very bushes which it uniformly 

 frequents during the cold weather, early in the hot weather, and 

 again at the close of the inundations. I do not pretend to vouch 

 for these latter facts, " I tell the tale as it was told to me." 



The following are the dimensions taken from freshly-killed 

 specimens, and I may note that there was no appreciable difference 

 in the sizes of the sexes. Length, 4*8 to 4*9; expanse, 7 to 7*2; 

 tail, from vent, 1'8 to 3; wing, 2 to 3-2; v/ings, when closed, 

 reach to within 1 to 1'2 of end of tail; bill at front, 0*3 to 

 0'33 ; tarsus, 0' 8; irides, yellow to orange yellow; legs and 

 feet, pale yellow ; in some, very pale lemon yellow ; claws, dusky; 

 bill, pale yellow, dusky, or horny grey on eulmen and at tip. 



The lores are greyish white ; from the nostrils to the upper 

 margin of the eye, runs a very narrow yellowish streak, whiter 

 and less grey than the lores ; this line ceases to be visible in nine 

 out of ten skins, but is sufficiently apparent in the freshly-killed 

 bird. A circle of yellowish white feathers surrounds the eye ; fore- 

 head, crown, occiput, nape, back, and scapulars, pale fawn-brown \ 

 rump and upper tail coverts, pale rufous; central tail feathers, pale 

 rufous, with dark shafts ; external lateral feathers, wholly white |. 



