394 



the head ; the feathers rather loose in texture ; secondaries with much broader rufous margins ; throat 

 white ; rest of the underparts pale rufous buff, palest, almost white, in the centre of the abdomen ; the 

 tail not fully grown and with rufous edgings to the feathers. 



Tiie present species, one which in many respects reminds one so much of our common Lesser 

 Whitethroat, inhabits Southern Europe and North Africa, being found as far east as the frontiers 

 of Persia, and as far west as the Canaries, Madeira, and the Cape-Verd Islands. It has not 

 been met with in Great Britain, nor yet in Scandinavia, North or Central Russia, Germany, or 

 the north of France, but is found in the southern provinces of this last country ; and Messrs. 

 Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye state that it is tolerably common in Provence in August 

 and September, but is of rare occurrence in the spring, when it is met with only in the arid and 

 scrub-covered districts of the Boue and the Crau. It is said by Professor Barboza du Bocage 

 to be rare in Portugal ; but Dr. E. Rey states (J. f. O. 1872, p. 148) that it is common in 

 Algarve, where he found it breeding. In Spain it is also found during the breeding-season. 

 Colonel Irby says (Orn. Str. Gibr. p. 87) that the earliest date on which he obtained it near 

 Gibraltar was on the 10th March, and that it remains there during the nesting-season. It is, 

 he says, " a conspicuous scrub-hunting bird, frequenting dry and more open ground than the 

 Whitethroat, being seen amongst cactus bushes. A sure place for finding them is in the 

 Carteian Hills." It is found in Savoy, but is, Bailly states, very rare, and only a few nest about 

 the rocky scrub-covered foot of the Mont du Chat and similar localities. It arrives there about 

 the end of April, and leaves again in August. In Italy it has been recorded from Liguria, the 

 vicinity of Rome and of Chita Vecchia; and when the country is properly explored it will, 

 Salvadori thinks, be found along the whole of the Mediterranean coast. In Sicily and Sardinia, 

 however, it is common. Mr. A. B. Brooke remarks that, though very common in all the 

 uncultivated portions of the plains in the latter island, he never observed it in the hills ; and 

 Mr. C. A. Wright states that it is common in Malta, where it is the only resident Warbler. It 

 inhabits Greece, where, Dr. Kriiper says, it is rare, and he himself never met with it. It is said 

 to be common on Corfu during the summer ; and Erhardt states that it is found on the Cyclades 

 at that season. I have never received it in the collections from Turkey, where it therefore is 

 either very rare or does not occur. In Palestine it is a resident ; and Canon Tristram, who 

 obtained it there, writes (Ibis, 1867, p. 84) as follows: — "On the bare highlands of the wilder- 

 ness of Judaea, and on the desolate plains of Jordan, a few individuals of S. consjriciUata might 

 constantly be seen flitting briskly from one little tuft of salsola to another, and, as in Malta and 

 the Sahara, permanent residents." It was met with by Menetries in the mountains of Talish on 

 the Persian frontier ; and Mr. Blanford thinks that it may probably be met with in the Caspian 

 provinces of Persia ; but it has not been recorded from any locality further east. 



It has not been met with, so far as I can ascertain, in North-east Africa, but is common on 

 the north-western side of that continent. Loche says that though nowhere very numerous it is 

 found throughout the three provinces of Algeria. Canon Tristram speaks of it as being the 

 common and characteristic Warbler of the whole Sahara; and Mr. O. Salvin writes (Ibis, 1859, 

 p. 305) that it is " a true inhabitant of the Salt-Lake districts, where it is found abundantly, 

 frequenting the low shrubs that cover the uncultivated portions of that region. It is a shy and 

 wary bird, and carefully eludes observation by skulking from bush to bush as one approaches." 



