54 



primary intermediate between the seventh and eighth, or equal to the seventh. Wing 2 - 35 to 2'4 

 inches. — Hub. Breeds in Transcaspia, Turkestan, and Afghanistan, and winters in Baluchistan, Sindh, 

 and North-west India. 



Of these nos. 1, 3, and 4 occur within the limits of the Western Palsearctic Region ; and of 

 the last of these, Sylvia minuscula, I will now treat. 



According to Mr. Pleske (Ornith. Ross. p. 104) this species has been met with as far west 

 as the eastern shores of the Caspian, where Dr. Lehmann obtained it near the fortress of Novo- 

 Alexandrovsk, on the peninsula of Mangyschlak. Zarudny obtained it in Transcaspia, and 

 records it (Rech. Zool. Transcasp. p. 151) as being one of the commonest Warblers in the oases 

 of the Tedgend and Murghab. 



The species recorded by Messrs. Radde and Walter (Vog. Transcasp. p. 52) is doubtless the 

 Least Whitethroat, and not Sylvia affinis, as they state that it has the upper parts of the body 

 pale dull greyish brown, the second primary always shorter than the sixth, and the wing 64 mm. 

 and less in length. They obtained specimens on the Tedgend on the 2nd April, at Perevalnaja on 

 the 22nd April, at Molla-kary on the 27th April, and on the 23rd March on the Amu-Darja. In 

 1887 a large number passed the Amu-Darja on passage on the 25th March, and on the Murghab 

 they were seen on passage up to the 6th and 7th April. In the St. Petersburg Museum there 

 is a large series of specimens obtained by Eversmann and Severtzoff in the valley of the Syr- 

 Darja in Turkestan ; Russoff obtained a considerable number at Tschinas (fide Pleske, Rev. Turk. 

 Oin. p. 30), and, according to SevertzofF (Ibis, 1883, p. 67), it breeds numerously in the Ferghana 

 Valley. 



Jt is said to breed in Afghanistan, but there does not appear to be any definite information 

 on this point. Dr. Aitchison obtained it at Gulran, Badghis, in March, and Hari-rud in April ; 

 Col. Swinhoe at Kandahar in April ; and Dr. Scully at Herat in March. 



According to Oates (Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, i. p. 398) it is found throughout Sind, Bahawalpur, 

 and Rajputana, as far east as Jodhpore, as a winter visitor. Dr. Henderson states that it was 

 excessively plentiful in Kashmir, but was never observed after crossing the Zoji-la. 



According to Dr. Sharpe (2nd Yarkand Miss. p. 76), Dr. Scully obtained it at Posgam in 

 October, and says that it arrives in the plains of Kashgharia about April, and migrates southward?, 

 towards the end of October. It breeds, he says, in May and June. 



Numerous specimens were obtained by the brothers Grum-Grzimailo on the Dshirgalty 

 river in the Tian-schan, Ssy-dun, in the Bei-schan Mountains, and Chuan-che ; and Mr. Th. Pleske 

 (Orn. Result. Prjev. Reis. ii. p. SO) writes that " On the Lob-nor journey the first arrivals were 

 obtained by Col. Prjevalsky on the 20th March, 1877. Early in April this species appeared in 

 considerable numbers in the wooded Tarim Valley, where it also breeds. On the 16th April, 

 1879, the first were observed at the Urungu River. It is also common on the Bulugun River, 

 and occurs sparingly in the Southern Altai. 



"In the oasis Ssa-tschen but few were met with, though it was common in the lower and 

 central zones of the Nan-schan. In the spring a single example was seen in Wasch-Schari on 

 the 29th March, and a pair on the following day. In the first half of April this Whitethroat 

 was tolerably common on the Tschertschen-Darja, and was found also in the gorges of the 



