418 



what duller, and the head, especially, browner in colcrar ; secondaries with dull rufous, not pale whity- 

 brown margins ; throat, breast, flanks, and crissum strongly tinged with dull sandy brownish grey. 



Obs. I have a specimen from Syria, said to be a winter-killed bird, which resembles the adult male, but 

 has the black on the head edged with pale brownish, the black feathers on the throat tipped with dirty 

 white, the back browner, and the underparts slightly washed with dull greyish sandy brown. It appears 

 to me to be an old bird in winter-plumage, but it may possibly be a bird which has not attained the 

 fully adult stage of plumage. In Captain Shelley's collection there is a specimen of an old female 

 which somewhat resembles the male in plumage, as the crown is brownish black, and the feathers on 

 the throat are marked with black. 



Obs. Several authors have given Curruca leueomelana, Elir. (Symb. Phys. fol. cc, 1829), as a synonym of 

 the present species ; but I could not in any case agree to reject the name of Sylvia rueppelli in favour of 

 that of S. leucomeI<ena, as I am by no means certain that the birds obtained by Hemprich and 

 Ehrenberg are really the young of the present species. When at Berlin in September last I carefully 

 compared the type of Curruca leucomelcena with the young of Sylvia rueppelli; and though they 

 resemble each other tolerably closely, there are several important points of difference. There is but 

 one specimen in the Berlin Museum, the one from Arabia, the other two obtained by Hemprich and 

 Ehrenberg having evidently been parted with. This one specimen is in rather worn plumage, the outer 

 rectrix on each side is wanting, and the tail is especially abraded, which may account for the total 

 absence of white on it ; and the shape of the wing differs greatly from that of Sylvia rueppelli ; but it 

 otherwise closely resembles the young of that species. The second (or first long) primary measures about 

 - 8 inch shorter than the third in one, and 0'85 in the other wing, and is about 06 inch longer than 

 the wing-covcrts ; the third primary is 025 inch shorter than the fourth, the fourth, fifth, and sixth 

 are about equal ; the secondaries reach to within about - 2 inch of the end of the wing ; the seventh, 

 eighth, and ninth quills are wanting in both wings. The measurements are — culmen 0'59 inch, wing 

 2*75, tail 2 - 55, tarsus 0'83. In Sylvia rueppelli the first primary is very small indeed, not reaching 

 beyond the wing-coverts, and is 1*45 inch less than the second, and the second, third, and fourth are 

 nearly equal, the third being the longest. 



This, one of the most beautiful of our European Warblers, is certainly one of the rarest, having 

 been found only in Greece, Asia Minor, and North Africa, being a summer visitant to Greece 

 and Asia Minor, retreating to its winter quarters in Africa very early in the autumn. In Greece 

 it is an extremely rare bird. Count von der Mtihle (Orn. Gr. p. 72) says that he shot a single 

 specimen, which was sitting quietly on a free-standing branch of a fruit-tree, and was so little 

 shy as to be undisturbed by several shots discharged in the neighbourhood at Titmice. It sat 

 with pendent tail ; and he at first mistook it for a White Wagtail, until he observed its position 

 and movements. Lindermayer (Vog. Griechenl. p. 102) says that it breeds in Greece, and is met 

 with in the northern portions of that country, as well as on the islands of the archipelago. He 

 further says that it arrives very late and leaves again very early. Dr. Kriiper says (J. f. O. 1861, 

 p. 270) that he obtained a specimen near Sotirianica, in Greece, in the dry bed of a brook, the 

 >ules of which were rocky and covered with brushwood, but did not obtain any other during the 

 time he collected in Greece. In Asia Minor, however, it appears to be much commoner, as 

 Dr. Kriiper has not only sent home numerous specimens of the bird, but its nest and eggs. 

 Canon Tristram refers to it as being resident in Palestine, but not very common; Mr. C. W. 



