325 



trill out his clear, loud, rich song. The note of the Blue-throated Warbler is certainly louder 

 and more varied than that of any other Warbler ; and it well deserves its Lap name of ' saddan 

 kiellinen ' (or hundred tongues)— totally different from any thing I ever heard before ; in fact it 

 is quite impossible to describe on paper." Messrs. P. and F. Godman, writing on the ornithology 

 of Bodo (Norway), state (Ibis, 1861, p. 82) that " this bird seemed quite to take the place of our 

 Robin in these latitudes; in almost every farmyard, and near every house, a pair were to be 

 found. They had one remarkable note that particularly attracted our attention. The bird 

 would sit on the top of a bush, every now and then flying up in the air and uttering a note that 

 is best described by saying it was much such a sound as is produced by striking a metal triangle. 

 We first saw the bird May 28th, after which time they were plentiful throughout the lower 

 district." In India, according to Dr. Jerdon (B. of I. ii. p. 153), "it is found in the open 

 country, in hedge-rows, gardens, fields of pulse and Cucurbitacece, corn-fields, and reeds or long 

 grass, especially near water. In gardens it haunts the pea-rows, beans, and any thick cover ; 

 and it feeds on the ground, running along and picking up various insects. It makes its way 

 very adroitly through thick reeds ; and when observed it tries to conceal itself. When feeding, it 

 occasionally displays its rufous tail, and sometimes jerks it up, but does not quiver it like the 

 Redstarts. I have seen it feeding close to houses in various parts of Central India." 



In its mode of uidification, and especially in the coloration of its eggs, the Bluethroat 

 resembles the Nightingale much more closely than the Redstart. Its nest is cup-shaped, 

 constructed of dry grass-bents on a loose foundation of leaves and grass, and is placed on the 

 ground, generally on the side of a bank, but often in a quite open situation, and always in 

 some low swampy locality. The eggs, usually five or six in number, are of a dull dark greenish 

 or brownish olive-colour, similar in shade to those of the Common Nightingale; but some 

 varieties are much paler than others. In size they are much smaller than those of the 

 Nightingale, measuring from fo by ff to ff by f§ inch respectively. Some I have from 

 Norway are marked, on a pale, dull, greenish ground, with innumerable almost confluent dull 

 russet-brown markings. The eggs are, in the high north of Scandinavia, usually deposited about 

 the middle of June. Messrs. Harvie Brown and Alston found it breeding on the Valders-fjeld 

 in Norway, and send me the following notes : — " In Norway we found this species in somewhat 

 small numbers on the Fille-fjeld in 1871, at an elevation of over 3000 feet, and more plentifully 

 on the Valders-fjeld at a lower elevation. We obtained two nests only, which were built of 

 moss and grass, lined with finer grass, and carefully concealed under the low trailing juniper 

 bushes (Juniperus communis). From one of these on the 1st July we shot the female, which 

 proved to be in the plain brown-and-white plumage, without any trace of red or blue on the 

 throat (cf. Newton's Yarrell, i. p. 328). 



" Herr O. J. Lysne, when collecting on the Dovre-fjeld in 1873, found this species extremely 

 abundant, 'as plentiful as Anthus pratensis was on the Fille-fjeld.'" 



The food of the Bluethroat consists of worms, seeds, and insects and their larva?. Mr. Collett 

 writes that he found the stomach of a female to contain " seeds and a Clausilia, exclusive of 

 insects. In the stomachs of examples (young birds and adults) procured in Finmark were found 

 only insects (coleoptera, tipulidae) and their larvse." 



Particulars as to the specimens figured are given above in the explanation of the Plates. 



