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states, writing respecting the unspotted bird, which I look on as identical with the present 

 species, that in Central and Northern Germany it is found everywhere during migration, and 

 in many localities it breeds. 



Borggreve writes that it occurs throughout Northern Germany, and breeds in almost every 

 willow-garth from the Rhine to the Vistula ; and Dr. Key informs me that it appears in the 

 neighbourhood of Halle early in March, and remains there to breed, its nest being not unfre- 

 quently found on the banks of the Saale. In Holland and Belgium it is exceedingly common, 

 and breeds numerously in the osier-beds and swampy localities. It occurs in France, but does 

 not appear to be so common there as in Germany ; and Professor Barboza du Bocage records it 

 as occurring in Portugal, where, however, it is rare. In Spain, according to Mr. H. Saunders 

 (Ibis, 1871, p. 210), it " occurs in the spring and autumn migrations. I have specimens both 

 with the white patch and with the red patch on the throat ; but in the series in the Malaga 

 Museum is the finest specimen I ever saw killed in summer, without any spot at all, the throat 

 and breast being of the richest ultramarine, darkening at the lower edge, followed by deep 

 chestnut." To the above I may add that Mr. Saunders has brought to me his entire series for 

 examination, and I find that they are all referable to the present species. Some of the speci- 

 mens are in immature plumage, having the white spot clouded with pale rufescent ochre, and 

 these are doubtless the birds he has mistaken for the red-spotted species. Mr. Saunders further 

 writes to me respecting the unspotted bird as follows : — " The entirely blue-throated birds are 

 rare in Spain, and besides the one I send you I have only seen one other, which is in the Malaga 

 Museum. But even in all you can see the white spot underneath by merely raising the feathers." 

 Dr. Brehm obtained it in September near Murcia, but did not observe it elsewhere. 



Passing eastward, again, I find it, according to Bailly, occurring in Savoy during the seasons 

 of migration ; he also states that a few remain there to breed, and that two or three pairs may 

 annually be found nesting on the banks of the Laisse, near the marshes of Bissy and la Motte- 

 Servolex ; and he likewise observed it during the summer in bush-covered swampy localities in 

 the mountains near Chambery, especially at Apremont and Entremont, near the Coche Hill. 

 Count Salvadori also records both this and C. suecica from Italy ; and Professor Doderlein met 

 with it in Sicily. In Sardinia it appears to be rare. Mr. C. A. Wright met with the present 

 species on Malta, and writes (Ibis, 1870, p. 491) that " on the 28th of March, 1869, a male of 

 the white-spotted form of this bird (C. leucocycmeaX) was shot in a field of Hedysarum coronarium. 

 It has before been occasionally killed in Malta, but it is so extremely rare that this was the first 

 specimen that ever came into my hands in the flesh. The blue of the breast was very brilliant, 

 and the pectoral spot of a pure silvery white. Several others were seen and shot about the same 

 time." In Greece, according to Von der Muhle, the true C. suecica alone occurs, as stated in my 

 article on that species; but the present bird occurs in Palestine, where, according to Canon 

 Tristram (Ibis, 1867, p. 86), "both species are winter visitants, resorting to the marshy lowlands 

 and the banks of small streams, frequently in consort with Pipits. We found the two species 

 sometimes together, though the former was the more common. They remained up to the middle 

 of April, after which we saw them no more. They are very quiet ; and we never observed them 

 to perch, or leave the marshy grounds, being at this time of the year decidedly aquatic in their 



habits." 



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