SPECTACLED WABBLEB. 135 



the tincultivated parts of the plains, where it is found in company 

 with C melanocephala and M.. sardus; but I have never seen it on 

 the hills. It is, I think, the most shy of all the Warblers. During 

 the months of April and May, the male may generally be seen 

 perched on the highest twig of cistus, forty or fifty yards off; but the 

 moment one tries to approach any nearer, it flies off low over the 

 ground, lighting again in a similar situation; and this is repeated 

 time after time in the most tantalizing manner. I do not think all, 

 if any, of these Warblers migrate in the winter, as I have seen as 

 many early in March as at any other time of the year. Excepting 

 during the spring they are very hard to see, always keeping in thick 

 cover; and unless come upon unawares, they creep away through the 

 twigs, close along the ground, without showing themselves. The 

 young birds are able to fly by the middle of May; they have much 

 broader rufous edgings to the feathers than the old birds. Their 

 song is short and pleasant; and the males are often seen flying up 

 in the air, returning and lighting again on the same spot — a habit so 

 characteristic of the Common Whitethroat, to which this species 

 appears to bear a remarkable resemblance both in colouration and 

 habits." 



In the adult male in breeding season, the vertex and cheeks are 

 ash grey; the whole upper part of the body greyish russet, more or 

 less marked; throat white; the rest of the inferior parts red, tinged 

 with grey, clearer on the belly; lores and eyebrows black; cheeks 

 white; wings blackish, with the coverts broadly fringed with lively 

 red; tail dark brown, with the two internal barbs of the external 

 quills white; a small and sometimes a large spot of the same colour 

 on the extremity of the last, and a small spot on the third; beak, 

 yellow on the borders and the basal half below, the rest blackish; 

 feet yellowish; iris brown. 



The male in autumn has the head of a less pure ash-colour; neck 

 and mantle grey, with the feathers bordered with russet; throat white; 

 lower part of neck bluish ash; crop and flanks red; middle of stomach 

 whitish. 



The adult female has the top of the head dark ash grey, while the 

 black "spectacle" mark over the eyes is either less distinct or wanting. 

 Scapularies, rump, and upper tail feathers olive brown; wings brown, 

 with the coverts broadly fringed with russet; the uppermost feathers 

 of the secondaries bright russet, with a conspicuous black longitudinal 

 mark in the centre; throat greyish white; rest of inferior marks of 

 body russet, lighter in the centre; under tail coverts white. 



The young before the first moult are of a red ash-colour above. 



