526 Birds of Celebes: Sylviidae. 



^ 217. LOCUSTELLA OCHOTENSIS (Mi del.). 

 MiddendorfFs Grasshopper-warbler. 



a. Sylvia (Locustella) ochotensis (I) Midd., Sib. Reise 1853, 11(2), 185, t. XVI, f. 7, 8. 



h. Calamodyta ochotensis (1) Gray, HL. 1869, I, 210, Nr. 2973; {2} Tacz., P. Z. S. 1889, 

 621; {3) id., Faune Orn. Sib. Orient. 1891, 241. 



Locustella ochotensis {1) Cab., J. f. 0. 1871, 151; {2} Dresser, B. Eur. II, 634 (1878); 

 {3} Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1879, 338; (4) Seek, Cat. B., V, 1881, 113; (5) Styan, Ibis 

 1887, 220; (6) Sharpe, Ibis 1889, 265; {1} Everett, J. Str. Br. R. A. S. 1889, 

 97; {8) Steere, List B. & M. PhiHpp. Is. 1890, 20; (9) Sharpe, Ibis 1890, 276; 

 {10] Seeb., B. Japan. Emp. 1890, 73; {11} Styan, Ibis 1891, 318; {12} Pleske, 

 Vog. Russ. Reichs H, 590(1891); (13) De La Touche, Iljis 1892, 417; {14} Grant, 

 Ibis 1896, 465. 



c. Locustella subcerthiola {1] Swinh., Ibis 1874, 154; {2} David & Oust., Ois. Chine 1877, 249. 



d. Arundinax blakistoni {I) Swinh., Hjis 1876, 332, pi. VHI, f. 1. 

 For further synonymy and references cf. Taczanowski b 3. 



Figures and descriptions. Middendorff a I {= juv.); Swinhoe rf 7 (= juv.), cl; David 

 & Oust, c 2; Seebohna 4'); Taczanowski b 3. 



Adult. Above bistre-brown, with darker centres to the feathers; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 unifonn and brighter; crown and nape greyer brown, with blackish centres to the 

 feathers; wing-coverts and quills dark -brown edged with the colour of the back, 

 but paler; tail darker and pui'er brown than the back, with obsolete bars showing 

 in certain hghts, tij) whitish, preceded by two or three blackish bars seen more 

 plainly fi-om below; superciliary strijie from lores to above ear-coverts 

 yellowish white; in front of and below the eye bro^\^l like the head; chin, throat 

 and middle of abdomen white, the feathers on the throat more or less tipped with 

 wood-bro^^^l ; breast and sides dark rufous wood-brown; crissum and under tail- 

 coverts wood-brown; under wing-coverts yellowish white. Wing 66mm; tail 52; 

 tarsus 23; bill fi'om nostril 9.5 (Minahassa: Faber — 3518). 



Upper bill brownish horn, lower flesh -wliitish; feet pale yellowish with pale 

 claws; iris deep bro^\ai (Tacz. b 3). 



Sex and Young. Sexual differences of coloration ai'e not kno^vn to exist. Other specimens, 

 probably younger, are suffused with yellowish (Tacz. b 3). 



Eggs. 5 — 6, rose-colour, moderately glossy, with a few fine veins encirchng the large end, 

 no other markings: size 21 X '4.3 mm (Kamtschatka — ex Tacz. b 3). Taczanowski 

 remarks that the eggs resemble those of Arundinax aedon (Pall.). 



Distribution. Kamtschatka (Dybows. b 5); Bering Id. (Stejneger b 5); Km-ile Is. (Wossnes. 

 4); Japan (Blak. 10]; Cliina (David c 2, De La Touche 13); Pliihppines — Marin- 

 duque (Steere 8], Mindoro (Whitehead 14); North Borneo (Low 3, 7, White- 

 head 6, 7); Celebes — Minahassa (Faber in Dresden Mus.). 



A single specimen , which we find to belong to this species , is in the 

 Dresden Museum; it is new to the island. The species stands very near to 

 L.certhiola (Pall.l, in which the centres to the feathers on the back are black, 

 producing a more spotted appearance; this bird has been recorded from some 

 of the same localities, and it appears to us desirable that a fresh comparison 



I; Prom Seebohm's descriptiou we are by no meaus convinced that the specimens in the British 

 Museum belong to this species, but think they may be Locustella pleskei (Tacz., P. Z. S. 1889, 621). 



