416 



on the top of an olive- or pear-tree. It is easiest to approach it whilst it is singing ; but the 

 moment the song is ended it is necessary to stand quite still. If it believes itself safe it will 

 remain a quarter of an hour or longer on the same perch, in which it differs from the other 

 Warblers, excepting Aedon galactodes ; but it is true that it is not often found so tranquil, and 

 when once disturbed it is as shy and uneasy as any of its allies. He shot a female on the 

 18th May, and did not hear the male singing on the 17th or 18th of that month ; but on the 19th, 

 when he visited the same locality, he heard it calling the female, and flying from tree to tree, 

 and shot it also. Later than June he did not see any Orphean Warblers, and believes that they 

 leave as soon as Hypolais pallida and Hypolais olivetorum. 



The food of the present species consists almost entirely of small insects, caterpillars, small 

 beetles ; but it is said in France to eat berries in the autumn, and is then regarded as a great 

 delicacy for the table. I have a large series of eggs of the Orphean Warbler in my collection, 

 obtained in Palestine, Spain, and Greece, all of which have somewhat the same character, though 

 they vary not a little inter se, especially as regards the profuseness or scarcity of markings, and 

 more particularly as regards size. In several of the clutches from Spain there is one extremely 

 large egg, which at first I thougbt might possibly be that of a Cuckoo; but a careful scrutiny of 

 these large eggs shows that tiiey must only be abnormally large Orphean Warblers' eggs. In 

 colour the eggs of this species are French white, or white with the faintest sea-green or bluish 

 tinge, and are more or less spotted and blotched with pale purplish grey underlying shell- 

 markings, and blackish or dark reddish brown overlying surface-spots. In size the ordinary eggs 

 measure from f§ by f § to f § by f^, and the abnormally large eggs from f^ by f § to ^ by fl- 

 inch. The Palestine eggs appear, if any thing, a trifle larger than the usual run of eggs from 

 Spain, not taking into consideration the abnormally large specimens. 



The specimens figured are a male from Tangier and a female shot by myself in Spain, both 

 being in my collection, as are also the others described. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. II. E. Dresser. 

 u,j,b,z. Casa Campo, Madrid, May 15th, 18G6 (H. E. D.). c, d. Tangier, e. Egypt (Roffers). f,d. 

 Asia Minor, April 1871 (Dr. Kriiper). ff, d juv., h, S juv. Asia Minor, June 1871 (Dr. Kriiper). 

 i, 6 juv. July 1871 (Dr. Kriiper). j,6 , k, 2 • Kokand, Central Asia (Dode). 



E Mus. Ind. Calc. 

 a > b> 6 , c, ?• Near Niriz, east of Shiraz, S. Persia, 7000 feet altitude, June 1st. d, d juv. Abadah, between 

 Isfahan and Shiraz, G000 feet, July (IV. T. Blanford). e, j. Karachi, Sindh, November 11th, 1871 

 (W.T.B.). 



E Mus. Berol. 



a, d . Syria, type of S. orphea, var. helena. b, c. Arabia (Hempr. &; Ehr.). 



E Mus. E. Hargitt. 

 <i, J . Smyrna, b, <$ . Smyrna, May 26th, 1871 (Dr. Kriiper). 



E Mus. Salvia and Godman. 

 u. Europe (J. Gould). b,c,2. Province of Constantine, Algeria, May 18th, 1857 (O. Salvin). 



