PHYLLOSCOPUS VIKIDANUS. 



(THE GREENISH TREE-WARBLER.) 



Phyllopneuste rufa, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xii. p. 191 (1842), nee Bodd. 



Phylloscopus viridanus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1843, xii. p. 967 ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 



1853, xii. p. 263 ; Layard & Kelaart, Prodromus, App. Cat. B. p. 57 (1853) ; Jerdon, 



B. of Ind. ii. p. 193 (1863) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 457; Brooks, Ibis, 1872, p. 31 ; 



Henderson & Hume, Lahore to Yarkand, p. 220, pi. 19 (1873) ; Scully, Str. Feath. 1876, 



p. 148 ; Seebohm, Ibis, 1877, p. 73. 

 Abromis viridana, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 290 (1850). 

 Phylloscopus plmnbeitarsus, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1861, p. 330; Seebohm, Ibis, 1877, p. 73; 



Brooks, Str. Feath. 1878, vii. p. 505. 



Adult male and female. Length " 4-75 to 5 inches" (Jerdon) ; wing 2-2 to 2-4 ; tail 2-0 ; tarsus 0-7 : middle toe 0-4, 

 claw (straight) 0-15 ; bill to gape 0-5. These measurements are from two specimens in my collection from 

 Futteghur. 



Dr. Scully gives the following complete measurements of a specimen killed in Turkestan : — Length 4-3 inches ; expanse 

 7"15 ; wing 2-34 ; tail 1-8 ; tarsus 0-81 ; bill from gape 0-53 ; weight 0-35 oz. 



" Bill, upper mandible dusky brown, lower mandible yellowish brown ; irides dark brown ; legs and feet brownish grey ; 

 claws brown horny." (Scully.) 



Above dull olivaceous green, pervaded with a brownish hue, the rump greener than the back ; primaries and secondaries 

 brown, edged with the hue of the back ; greater coverts tipped with whitish, forming a single wing-bar ; tail brown, 

 the feathers edged, principally near the base, with the colour of the upper tail-coverts ; a dark spot in front of the 

 eye ; above it a rather wide yellowish superciliiun passes from the nostril to above the ear-coverts, which are 

 brownish; beneath from the chin to the under tail-coverts whitish, tinged slightly with greenish yellow; under wing- 

 coverts washed with greenish yellow, brightest at the edge of the wing ; shafts of the tail-feathers beneath white. 



Obs. This species may be distinguished from P. nitidus by its browner upper surface and less yellow-tinged under - 

 parts ; it is aptly named the Greenish while the latter is styled the Green Tree- Warbler. 



Distribution. — The evidence on which this bird takes its place in our lists rests on the following statement 

 of Layard' s, who writes, in speaking of a Warbler which he calls Phyllojmeuste montanus, Blyth : — " The present 

 species is migratory, and abounds in low thick bushes in company with Phyllopneuste viridanus." There is some 

 error here, as there is no such bu*d as P. montanus, Blyth, and it is strange that the present species should 

 be said to abound. Perhaps it may visit Ceylon ; and if its note is not to be distinguished from that of the very 

 numerous species first noticed, it would naturally be supposed by Layard to be common after he had once 

 procured it. It is to be hoped that naturalists will pay particular attention to this point. 



The Greenish Tree-Warbler, as hitherto considered, inhabits Cashmere, according to Mr. Brooks, in the 

 breeding-season; and Jerdon procured it at Darjiling. It ranges, however, north of the Himalayas, as 

 Dr. Scully procured it in Kashgharia, and Dr. Henderson found it common in Hill Yarkand at the Arpalak 

 river. In the cool season it migrates to the plains, Blyth stating that it is very common in Lower Bengal. 

 It is not unfrequent in the North-west Provinces ; and Jerdon obtained it in Southern India. It passes to the 

 eastward of the Bay of Bengal on to Tenasserim, whence Mr. Hume records it from Thatone, river Salween, 

 and Moulmein. 



Concerning its habits Dr. Scully writes :— " This species was noticed among the tamarisk and willow 

 bushes fringing the Sanju stream, and along the banks of the Karakash river. It seemed very restless, con- 

 tinually flitting from spray to spray, and its note was a weak sort of chirp frequently uttered. Blyth pronounces 

 its voice to be very weak, and to be expressible by tiss-yip, tiss-yip, frequently uttered/ 



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