378 



$ ad. mari similis sed sordidior, capite brunnescentiore, pectore pallide fusco-cinereo nee rosaceo tincto. 



6 ad.ptil. Mem. capite et corpore supra rufescentioribus, marginibus remigum latioribus et rufescentioi-ibus : 

 corpore subtus pallidiore, pectore pallide rufescente cerviuo tincto. 



Adult Male in summer (Christiania, 12tb June). Crown, sides of the head, hind neck, back, and lesser wing- 

 coverts greyish brown, more ashy on the crown and cheeks and more rufous on the back ; quills blackish 

 brown, the primaries narrowly and the secondaries broadly margined with rusty red ; larger and median 

 wing-coverts also broadly margined with this colour ; tail dull dark brown, the feathers with lighter 

 edges, the outer rectrix on each side brownish white, except on the basal and inner portions of the 

 inner web ; underparts white, the lower throat and breast washed with dull rose-colour, the flanks and 

 under tail-coverts washed with pale buffy brown ; bill brown, becoming blackish towards the tip, the 

 base of the under mandible dull yellowish flesh-coloured ; iris yellowish brown ; legs yellowish flesh- 

 coloured. Total length about 5-5 inches, culmen - 48, wing 2 75, tail 252, tarsus 085 ; spurious 

 primary very short, being Ol shorter than the coverts, the second, third, and fourth nearly equal in 

 length, the second being rather the shortest. 



Adult Female (Christiania, 12th June). Resembles the male, but has the head browner, the breast is washed 

 with pale ashy brown, not dull rose-colour, and the coloration of the plumage generally is duller. 



Adult Male in autumn (Turkey, 1st September). Differs in having the upper parts considerably more rufous, 

 the edgings to the quills broader and richer, and the underparts rather clearer in colour, the breast 

 washed with very pale warm buff. 



Nestling (Belgium). Resembles the adult in autumn dress; but the upper parts are darker, and the breast 

 and flanks are more washed with warm brownish bull'. 



THROUGHOUT Europe generally, up to about 05° N. lat., the Whitethroat is generally distributed ; 

 and it visits North Africa during the winter. In Asia it is only met with in the western portion, 

 but is said to breed plentifully in Turkestan. 



In Great Britain it is common during the summer season, arriving late in April and 

 departing again for the south in the late autumn. Throughout the whole of England it breeds 

 in considerable numbers, but becomes rarer in the northern counties. In Western Scotland, how- 

 ever, Mr. Gray says, it is particularly common, arriving in May and remaining until September. 

 Mr. Graham informed him that it is found in Iona ; and Mr. Sinclair traced it beyond Loch 

 Sunart, in Inverness-shire ; but it does not appear to occur on the Outer Hebrides. Mr. Saxby 

 says that stragglers occasionally visit the Shetland Isles during warm summers, but seldom remain 

 many days. Throughout Ireland, from south to north, it is a generally distributed and common 

 summer visitant. 



In Scandinavia it is met with from the extreme south up to from G2° to 65° N. lat. Mr. R. 

 Collett informs me that it arrives in Norway a little before the middle of May, and leaves again 

 early in September. Throughout the whole of the southern dales of that country it breeds 

 plentifully, and is met with as far north as the frontier of Nordland, in about 65° N. lat. On 

 the fells it is found as high up as the fir growth extends. Professor Sundevall states that it is 

 very common in Southern Sweden, and he has observed it as far north as Helsingland, in 62° 



