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Genus MELIZOPHILUS. 



Motaoilla apud Boddaert, Tabl. des PI. Enl. p. 40 (1783). 

 Sylvia apud Latham, Ind. Orn. ii. p. 517 (1790). 

 MelizopMlus, Leach, Syst. Cat. M. & B. Brit. Mus. p. 25 (1816). 

 Curruca apud Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 553. 

 Thamnodus apud Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 110 (1829). 

 Ficedula apud Blyth in Rennie's Field Nat. i. p. 310 (1833). 

 Malurus apud Selby, Cat. Gen. B. p. 10 (1840). 

 Pyrophthalma apud Bonaparte, p Cat. Ucc. Eur. p. 37 (1842). 

 Dumeticola apud Von Homeyer, J. f. O. 1863, p. 88. 



Though very closely allied to some of the species included in the genus Sylvia, the Dartford 

 Warbler and its close ally Melizophilus sardus have very generally been kept apart in a separate 

 genus ; and they differ so much in general appearance that there appears to be good reason for 

 so doing. Only the two above-named species are included in this genus, and they are both 

 resident in the Palrearctic Region, one also being met with in the northern portion of the 

 Ethiopian Region. These birds frequent open bush-covered places, especially large commons 

 overgrown with furze, where they may be seen flitting from twig to twig. They are extremely 

 active and restless, and at the same time shy, seeking refuge amongst the dense cover at the 

 least approach of clanger. They feed almost exclusively on insects of various kinds, which they 

 obtain chiefly amongst the bushes ; but they also capture insects on the wing, like the Flycatchers. 

 The nest, which is cup-shaped and tolerably well constructed, is placed on a branch of a bush ; 

 and the eggs are spotted and finely blotched on a greyish ground with olive-brown or reddish 

 brown. They are only moderately good songsters, but are in song until late in the season. 



Melizophilus undatus, the type of the genus, has the beak rather long, somewhat broad at 

 the base, the upper mandible decurved towards the tip ; nostrils basal, longitudinal, situated in 

 a long depression ; gape furnished with a few long bristles ; eyelids bare and prominent ; wings 

 short, scarcely reaching beyond the base of the tail, first quill longer than the coverts, the fourth 

 and fifth longest ; tail long and graduated ; general plumage rather lax ; tarsus strong, longer 

 than the middle toe, covered in front with four plates and three inferior scutellee ; claws 

 moderately strong, the outer and inner toes nearly equal. 



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