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SYLVIA AFFIXES. 539 



by which the Indian Whitethroat has hitherto been known. 8. althcea is characterized by its large size, the 

 wings of five examples in Mr. Hume's museum varying from 2-7 to 2-8 inches, and further by having the upper 

 surface darkish grey, slightly tinged with brown on the back. The 2nd quill of one of these examples nearly 

 equals the Sth, and in three others is intermediate between the 6th and 7th, as in the Ceylonese example. The 

 ordinary form of Indian "Whitethroat, S. affinis, from which Mr. Hume separates the last named on account of 

 the characters here noticed, has a smaller wing; in 93 specimens it varies from 2-4 to 2-71 inches, and several 

 that I have examined from Futteghur and Cawnpore measure 2-5 to 2-6 inches. The 2nd primary, as a rule, 

 equals the 6th. All these examples have, according to Mr. Hume (and so have others which I have examined), 

 the crown brownish grey and the mantle earth-brown. An example in Mr. Seebohm's collection, procured at 

 Tenesaisk, is almost as " earthy brown " as the Cawnpore birds above mentioned, and its wing measures 2*5 inches. 

 The third and smallest race, which appears to be confined to " the extreme western portions of the continent," 

 has the wing varying from 2-3 to 2-45 inches, and has the " crown pale bluish grey, and the mantle pale sandy 

 brown " (Hume). 



These Indian Whitethroats differ from their closely allied relative of Europe, S. curruea, in the proportion of the 

 primaries to one another. The 2nd quill in the latter is considerably longer than in the Indian birds, it being 

 generally equal to the 5th, or only very Utile shorter than it. The bill in the European bird is usually shorter, and 

 the ear-coverts are not so dark, while the upper surface is more cinereous or less brown than in S. affinis. The 

 coloration of the upper surface varies, however, scarcely any two specimens being precisely alike. A Heligoland 

 specimen in Mr. Seebohm's collection is almost a counterpart of Mr. Holdsworth's, being only slightly paler on 

 the head. A specimen from Christiania is nearly as sandy-coloured as any Indian example of affinis. Two 

 specimens from Asia Minor, which I have examined, are ashy on the back, being almost devoid of any earthy 

 tint at all ; they belong to the European species, having the 2nd primary longer than Indian examples. 



Mr. Seebohm, in his notice of the Whitethroats he procured in Siberia, ' Ibis,' 1879, p. 8, hesitates to allow the Indian 

 bird to be a good species, and instances one specimen from India which has the 2nd quill as long as in the 

 European species. He will, however, no doubt reinstate it in his forthcoming volume of the Catalogue, now that 

 the results of Mr. Hume's researches have been published. If the proportion of the primaries is allowed to hold 

 o-ood in the separation of certain Phylloscopi and Acrocephali, members of this family, it must be a matter of equal 

 importance in the present case. 



Distribution. — This Whitethroat is evidently a very rare cool-season migrant to Ceylon. Whether it is 

 actually commoner than is supposed, and escapes observation owing to the habits of concealment which it 

 no douht affects in the non-breeding season, I am unable to say ; but certain it is that it has only, as yet, 

 come under the notice of two observers. Layard, its first discoverer, writes as follows concerning it :— 

 " I noticed a few of this species at Ambegamoa in the year 1848, but I never afterwards met with it." He 

 informs me, in epist., that, as far as he can recollect, the month of March was the time of his meeting with 

 them. Recently it was again observed by Mr. Holdsworth, who procured the example noticed in this article 

 at Aripu in December 1868. The two localities in question are far apart ; and the facts of the case prove that 

 it wanders over the island when it does visit it, and there is no saying where it may not be met with in future. 

 I always kept a look out for it in my wanderings in the north, but never once saw it that I am aware of. 



The larger race, to which I have attached Mr. Holdsworth's specimen, has been found in the western parts 

 of peninsular and continental India— Mr. Hume's specimens being recorded from Ahmednuggur, Deesa, 

 Jhansie Bhawulpur, and Ramoo Cashmeer. Jerdon, in speaking of the distribution of the Indian Whitethroat 

 generally says he " found it in the Carnatic at Jaulnah and other parts of the Deccan, and also at Mhow;" 

 and these observations may possibly refer to the larger race as well as the smaller, S. affinis. The majority of 

 Mr. Hume's specimens of the latter appear to come from the central portion of continental India, between 

 Sambhur and Cawnpore. 



Habits -Uke the European Whitethroat, this species frequents low bushes, grassy patches of land, 

 gardens, and groves, and is very active in its movements, flitting from place to place, and threading its way 

 among the thick masses of vegetation in which it takes up its abode. Jerdon remarks that, in addition to 

 being insectivorous in its diet, it feeds much on flower-buds. Blyth writes of its habits:- I observed 

 manv of them frequenting the Baubul (Mimosa) trees, and, as in England, keeping chiefly to the trees and not 

 to low bush-coverts, as is the habit of S. cinerea " (the Greater Whitethroat). Mr. Brooks writes that its song 

 resembles that of the European species, being full, loud, and sweet, and that the male usually sings near 

 the nest. 3 Z 2 



