SUB- ALPINE WABBLE B. 123 



This bird was described by Temminck in tlie first edition of the 

 "Manual" as a new species. Savi and E,oux, however, clearly demon- 

 strated that it was not specifically distinct from Sylvia passerina, 

 described in the third volume (edition 1835) of the "JManual," but 

 only that bird in the breeding plumage. Schlegel and Miihle have 

 consequently sunk the name of passerina, and adopted that of suh- 

 alpina, given to it by Bonelli. To add to the confusion Meyer and 

 Wolff have also described one of the plumages of this bird as a 

 distinct species, Sylvia leucopogon. It will be necessary, therefore, 

 to bear in mind that S. passerina of Temminck, and S. leucopogon 

 of Meyer and Wolff, are both comprised in the Sylvia sub-alpina of 

 this notice. 



The Sub-alpine Warbler has a wide range both in Europe and 

 Africa. It lives along the whole coast of the Mediterranean, is 

 abundant in Algeria and Egypt, and is found in Sardinia, Italy, 

 Dalmatia, Silesia, and in the Steppes of New Russia and the Ghouriel. 

 It also occurs plentifully on the borders of the Caspian Sea. In the 

 south of Europe it generally appears with the other migratory War- 

 blers in the beginning of April. In Greece Count Miihle informs 

 us it is seen about the middle of March, in the low bushes and 

 shrubs along the dried-up river-beds in the mountainous parts of the 

 country. In Italy it occupies similar localities, in company with the 

 Common Whitethroat, and leaves in September or beginning of 

 October. Colonel Irby writes to me that it is common at Gibraltar 

 during its passage, arriving about the end of March. Some few nest 

 in scrubby brushwood on dry ground. "I never saw a nest, but 

 Lord Lilford found a nest early in May." 



The Rev. Canon Tristram records his first capture of this bird in 

 North Africa, ("Ibis," I860,) and Lord Lilford, (then the Hon. T. 

 L. Powys,) in the same volume writes of its occurrence in the Ionian 

 Islands: — "A beautiful specimen of this pretty little bird was brought 

 to me by one of my yacht's crew, who had picked it up close to 

 the lighthouse of Santa Maura on the 24th. of March, 1857. I have 

 occasionally noticed this species in Epirus in February and March." 



Mr. Chambers ("Ibis," 1867,) found it plentiful near Tripoli. Mr. 

 Howard Saunders, in his papers on the Ornithology of Spain ("Ibis," 

 1869,) writes while wandering among the rocks near Archena: — "A 

 fine male Sylvia sub-alpina baffled all my efforts to obtain it, owing 

 to its extreme tameness; it obstinately refused to remove to a dis- 

 tance sufficient to avoid my blowing it to pieces; and situated as I 

 was on a narrow ledge of rock, I could not retreat. I watched it 



