LOCTJSTELLA CEETHIOLA. 



(PALLAS'S WARBLER.) 



MotaciUa certhiola, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-As. i. p. 509 (1831). 



Locustella rubescens, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1845, xiv. p. 582. 



Locustella certhiola (Pall.), Bp. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 280 (1850) ; David & Oustalet, Ois. de 



la Chine, p. 248 (1877) ; Prjevalsky, B. of Mongolia, Rowley's Orn. Misc. vol. ii. 



p. 170(1877); Legge, Ibis, 1878, p. 204 (first record from Ceylon); Dresser, B. of 



Europe, pt. 68 (May 1878) ; Seebohm, Ibis, 1879, p. 13. 

 The Lesser Reed-Warbler, Jerdon ; Pallas s Grasshopper-Warbler. 

 ( amishevka-priatlimya, Russian. 



Adult hud,- (Ceylon). Length 5'6 inches ; wing 2-5 : tail 2-1 ; tarsus 0'9 ; middle toe and claw 087 ; hind claw 0-3! : 

 bill to gape 0-67. Expanse 7-5. Weight | oz. 



Female (Ceylon). Length 5-3 inches ; wing 2-35 ; tail L9 ; bill to gape 0'65. 



[ris reddish brown ; bill, upper mandible blackish brown, lower fleshy white at base, the tip dusky; legs and feet 

 fleshy brown, inner side of tarsus paler. 



Winter plumage (Ceylon). Above rusty olivaceous brown : the feathers of the centre of the back and interscapular 

 region with very broad black centres, narrowing on the hind neck; the crown and occiput almost entirely dull 

 brown-black, the forehead and edges only of the rest of the feathers being olive-brown ; wings dark brown, the 

 coverts and quills edged with the hue of the back, and the 2nd primary with a pale margin; upper tail-coverts 

 with central terminal black dashes ; tail olive-brown, the terminal portions of the feathers with central blackish 

 ■' drops," and the tips of all but the middle pair whitish, showing plainer beneath ; lores and supercilium whitish, 

 a dark line through the lores and a dark patch just behind the eye ; sides of the neck, chest, and breast, together 

 with the flanks and under tail-coverts, chestnut-brown ; chin, throat, centre of the breast, and belly white ; thighs 

 chestnut-brown; under wing-coverts fulvescent. Wheu this plumage is first acquired in autumn the tinting of 

 the underparts is brighter, almost approaching chestnut. 



Summer plumage. Female (Cheefoo, May). The upper surface scarcely so dark as the above; the edgings of the 

 feathers and the colour of the rump less rusty : the stripes on the head and back rather narrow and well defined 

 against the surrounding colour of the feathers ; the rump and upper tail-coverts with broad terminal black streaks ; 

 tail rusty olive-brown : sides of the breast and the flanks less rusty than in a wiuter-plumaged bird; the sides of 

 the neck and chest marked with obsolete bars, the remains of the immature spots ; under tail-coverts streakless ; 

 tips of (lie tail-feathers whiter than in my Ceylouese specimens. 



Wini; 2*5 inches; tail 2-2 ; bill to gape OG8. 



Young (Tenesaisk). In first plumage the young have the edges of the head-feathers olive-grey, the centres being 

 black, as in the adult ; back and rump rusty brown, the feathers broadly edged with black ; wings very dark 

 brown, the innermost secondaries almost black, and together with the wing-coverts edged with rusty olivaceous ; 

 tail blackish brown, tipped with olivaceous grey ; the central feathers not so dark as the others, which are edged 

 with earthy brown; lores blackish; a dusky whitish supercilium; chin and throat yellowish, the fore neck 

 marked with dark streaks and washed with rusty brownish, which is the colour of the flanks, abdomen, and under 

 tail-coverts ; breast paler than the throat. After the first moult a young bird shot in China in September has 

 the upper surface rich ferruginous, with the back-feathers very broadly streaked with black; tail black, edged 

 with olivaceous rusty ; wing-coverts and inner secondaries black, edged with rusty; chin and throat yellowish ; 

 chest and flanks rich rusty brown, with broad central spots of dark brown on the fore ueck; under tail-coverts 

 striped with brown; tail beneath tipped pale. 



For an examination of these interesting specimens I am indebted to the kindness of my friend Mr. (Seebohm. 



06s. Allied to the present species (the young of which, according to Mr. Seebohm, has been confounded with it) is 

 the Eastern-Siberian and Kamtchatkan species L. oeliotensis. A male in Mr. Seebohm's museum measures 



