351 



With regard to its nidifi cation in Asia Minor, Dr. Th. Kriiper writes that " this year (1867) 

 I observed the bird again in two other localities — one nearer to Burnova, and the other further 

 distant. On the 7th of May I began hunting after them, and shot the first, a male, on a 

 thorn-bush ; it was only winged, and tried to hide amongst the dry herbage ; but I caught and 

 killed it. I killed a second male near the rocks, and shot, but lost, a third one. Hunting about 

 amongst the bushes, I observed on a dwarf oak-bush, about four feet from the ground, a tolerably 

 large nest, from which a bird slipped quietly off; and I could not see what it was, but thought it 

 might be a Cirl Bunting {Emberiza cirlus). Great, however, was my delight when I found in 

 the nest five utterly unknown eggs, which, when fresh, were of a lovely green colour, reminding 

 me of those of the North-American Hermit Thrush (Turdus minor). As I knew of no other 

 bird breeding there whose nest and eggs I was not familiar with, I immediately thought of the 

 new White-throated Warbler. I let the eggs remain in the nest, and returned again in a quarter 

 of an hour, but did not find the bird on her nest ; but returning again in about an hour, I saw 

 the bird sitting, and almost caught her on her nest ; she slipped off, through a thick bush, and 

 flew a short distance, settled on a stone and jerked her tail. I fired, and she fell ; and now that 

 I was certain that the nest belonged to the new bird, I took the nest and eggs. The nest 

 resembled, ha size, materials, and position, that of Sylvia galactodes, being composed of dry 

 twigs and strips of bark, the upper part of fine grasses mixed with plant-cotton and down, with 

 woollen threads and rags interwoven. I sent two of the eggs to Mr. Seidensacher, to be described 

 and figured. They are oval, tapering towards one end, and resemble in size those of S. galac- 

 todes ; the ground-colour is now faded, but is still unlike that of any European bird, unless it be 

 some varieties of Saxicola rubicola; and the egg is covered all over with minute reddish-brown 

 spots, and between these are lilac shell-markings : in one of the three eggs I have before me the 

 spots are larger and more richly coloured." Dr. Kriiper is of opinion that this bird may range 

 from Asia Minor into Europe proper, and that further investigation will prove this to be the 

 case. It arrives in the neighbourhood of Smyrna soon after the middle of April ; for Kriiper 

 found it at its breeding-place on the 29th, and took five eggs on the 7th of May. He states that 

 in its habits it much resembles Sylvia galactodes, but is much livelier, and inhabits the mountains 

 instead of the plains. 



We have not had an opportunity of examining the eggs of this rare bird ; but our friend 

 Dr. E. Bey writes to us that he possesses one, out of a sitting of five eggs taken on the 7th of 

 May, which he describes as follows: — "The ground-colour is light greenish-blue; and the 

 markings consist of small, yellowish, rust-coloured spots, irregular in shape, scattered all over 

 the egg, but more thickly at the larger end ; the grain of the shell is fine, but it is not glossy. 

 It measures 22-5 by 16-0 millimetres. My friend Dr. Kriiper cannot have had an egg of Turdus 

 minor at hand when he compared the eggs in this sitting (Cab. Journal, 1869, p. 47) as resembling 

 those of that bird, and must have made the comparison from memory ; the eggs of Turdus minor 

 are much higher-coloured, and cannot well be compared to those of Cossypha gutturalis." 



The specimens described and figured are from Dresser's collection, and were obtained by 

 Dr. Th. Kriiper near Smyrna. 



Since writing the above we have received seven more examples, the remainder of the series 

 collected by Mr. Blanford in Persia, for examination, and find amongst them two immature 



