5 
which had the tail at least an inch longer than any other example he obtained there; but there 
is now no doubt that it breeds in Greece, as will be seen from the notes below by Mr. Seebohm, 
who found its nest in the Parnassus. 
In the south of Germany it is a partial resident; for it breeds on many of the mountain- 
streams, and remains over the winter in places where the streams are not frozen. The late 
Mr. E. Seidensacher informed me that it was found by him regularly breeding near Cilli, in 
Styria; and Dr. A. Fritsch says that it breeds near Prague, in Bohemia. 
When travelling in Wallachia and Servia I frequently observed it on the mountain-streams, 
and took its eggs near Ilovetz in the former country. I also observed it not far from Rustchuk, 
and have received many specimens collected near Constantinople by Mr. Robson. Professor von 
Nordmann states that it is tolerably common in the south of Russia, where it is distributed 
throughout Bessarabia, New Russia, all the eastern Black-Sea provinces, and the Crimea. 
Dr. Kriiper does not appear to have met with it in Asia Minor; but Canon Tristram states 
(Ibis, 1866, p. 290) that it is common in winter in Palestine, but leaves in February, long before 
it assumes the nuptial dress. Mr. C. W. Wyatt observed it in the peninsula of Sinai, where he 
met with a pair at the lower end of Wady Hebran. 
In North-east Africa it is found during the winter season. Mr. E. C. Taylor saw it at Cairo 
in January; Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., informs me that he twice observed it in the Delta of the 
Nile in February; Dr. Leith Adams met with it in Nubia in the winter; and Mr. Blanford, who 
remarks that it was not common in Abyssinia, states that he obtained one-specimen in the Lebka 
valley in August. It is stated by Loche to be common in Algeria during the two seasons of 
passage ; and, according to Colonel Irby, Favier says that it is a common winter visitor near 
Tangier, appearing in September and October and departing in February and March. It is also 
a common resident in the Canaries and Azores; and Mr. Godman writes (Ibis, 1872, p. 176) as 
follows :—‘‘ This beautiful species is exceedingly common in all three of the Atlantic archipe- 
lagoes; wherever there. is a pool or stream of water, a pair of them are sure to be seen, actively 
engaged in catching the insects which abound in such localities. Webb and Berthelot, and also 
Bolle, in his first paper on the birds of the Canaries, have mistaken it for JZ. flava, though the 
latter has corrected this error in his second paper.” 
To the eastward the present species is found as far at least as Japan. Mr. Blanford obtained 
three examples in Persia, two of which belonged to what is generally considered the European 
form, having the tail long; and the third had the tail short, but rather imperfect. Mr. A. O. 
Hume, who records it as common in Sindh, adds that he cannot, after having examined a large 
series, discover any valid constant difference; and in this I fully agree with him. Dr. Jerdon 
writes (B. of India, ii. p. 220), “it is migratory in India, appearing about the end of September, 
and remaining till the first week of May or so. It is spread throughout all India and Ceylon, 
but is most general in the hilly and wooded parts, and rare in the open country, especially 
towards the south of India, in the Carnatic, and the bare tableland, being apparently more 
abundant in Bengal and the north of India.” Mr. W. E. Brooks met with it in Cashmere, where, 
he says, (J. A. Soc. Beng. 1872, p. 73), it breeds plentifully on the streams, at an elevation of 
above 6000 feet; and Severtzoff states that he found it breeding throughout Turkestan, at an 
eleyation of from 4500 to nearly 10,000 feet above the sea-level. In Siberia it is found widely 
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