407 



SYLVIA MOMUS. 



(BOWMAN'S WARBLER.) 



Curruca momus, Ehr. Symb. Phys. Aves, i. fol. bb (1829). 



ICurruca thebaica, Ehr. ut supra (1829). 



Sylvia mystacea, Menetr. Cat. Rais. p. 34 (1832). 



Melizophilus nigricapillus, Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 35 (1850-51). 



Sylvia bowmani, Tristram, Ibis, 1867, p. 85. 



Sylvia nigricajnlla (Cab.), Gray, Hand-1. of B. i. p. 212. no. 3005 (1869). 



Sylvia melanocephala minor, v. Heugl. Orn. N.O.-Afr. i. p. 303 (1869, partim). 



Sylvia rubescens, Blanf. Ibis, 1874, p. 77. 



Pyrophthalma mystacea (Men.), Severtz. Stray Feathers, 1875, p. 428. 



Sylvia momus (Ehr.), Seebohm, Ibis, 1879, p. 316. 



Figura unica. 

 Blanford, Eastern Persia, ii. pi. xii. 



c? ad. Syvice melanocephalcB sirnilis, sed pallidior, corpore subtus albo vinaceo tincto, nee griseo, cauda breviore, 

 pedibus fuscis, iride flava, periopkthalmio nudo rubello. 



? ad. Sylvia melanocephala similis, sed conspicue pallidior, cauda breviore facile distinguenda. 



Adult Male (Jericho, 2nd January, 1864). Differs from Sylvia melanocephala in having the upper parts 

 much paler, the black on the crown being clearly separated from the grey on the bind neck ; under- 

 pays whiter than in Sylvia melanocephala, and without any greyish plumbeous on the breast and flanks, 

 being almost pure white, washed, especially on the flanks and breast, with vinous pink ; legs brown ; 

 hill dusky above, pale below ; iris yellow. Total length about 5 inches, culmen Oo, wing 2"15, tail 2 - 2, 

 tarsus - 75. 



Adult Female (Hebron, 8th February, 1864). Much paler than the female of Sylvia melanocephala; 

 upper parts generally dull reddish brown with an olivaceous tinge; the dark cap but imperfectly 

 defined ; underparts white tinged with pinkish, the flanks and breast slightly washed with pale vinous 

 buff; wings and tail as in Sylvia melanocephala, but much paler. 



This Warbler, which up to the present time has so very generally been looked on as specifically 

 inseparable from Sylvia melanocephala, inhabits the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Palestine, and North- 

 east Africa, ranging eastward into Persia and perhaps as far as India. Menetries, who met with 

 it in the Caucasus, writes {I. c.) : — " They are seen in pairs ; and I only met with it at Saliane, on 

 the banks of the Kour. It is very difficult to detect, as it frequents the small bushes, and when 

 moving about it utters a low whistle. Canon Tristram met with both the present species and 

 Sylvia melanocephala in Palestine, Sylvia momus being found in the more luxuriantly wooded 



6p 



