494 



appear to be very common ; but in the above seasons I have obtained several specimens — in the 

 latter chiefly the young of the year." 



Throughout the whole of Southern Germany and South Russia the Willow-Wren is gene- 

 rally distributed in the summer, and is said to winter in some localities ; and according to 

 Dr. Kriiper it winters numerously in the plains of Greece and Asia Minor, arriving late in 

 September or early in October, and leaving again for the north in March. Erhard says that it 

 breeds in the Cyclades ; but this statement is called in question by Dr. Kriiper. Lord Lilford 

 remarks that he met with it occasionally during the winter, in gardens, in the vicinity of 

 Corfu. Mr. C. Danford observed the Willow- Wren in Asia Minor, and says that it was common 

 at Anascha, where it arrived about the middle of March ; and in Palestine, according to Canon 

 Tristram, it positively swarms in every part of the country, and especially in the Jordan valley. 

 Mr. C. W. Wyatt found it on the peninsula of Sinai, but never saw it at a greater altitude than 

 Wady Feiran ; and in North-east Africa, Captain Shelley writes, it arrives with the Chiffchaff in 

 September, and leaves in March. During its stay it is very abundant both in Egypt and Nubia, 

 especially so in the Delta, where great numbers may be seen flitting about among the prickly 

 herbage by the sides of the embankments. Von Heuglin says that it passes south to Abyssinia, 

 Kordofan, and the White Nile. He met with it late in August and early in September at 

 Chartum and Berber. In North-west Africa the Willow- Wren is very generally distributed. 

 Mr. J. 11. (jiurney. jun. (Ibis, 1871, p. 84), found it "abundant nearly everywhere in Algeria. 

 Towards the end of March," he says, "the multitudes which winter in the Tell migrate north- 

 wards, and give place to others. Though I frequently thought I heard the Chiffchaff, the birds 

 on being shot nearly always proved to be Willow- Wrens." Mr. Salvin saw it in March in Tunis; 

 and Favier states that it is the commonest of the Willow-Warblers near Tangier, crossing the 

 Straits in April, returning in November. To this Colonel Irby adds that it certainly nests near 

 Tangier, although he never found a nest. 



It ranges south in Africa to Natal and Cape-town. It has been obtained on the Gold 

 Coast. Mr. C. J. Andersson observed it in the neighbourhood of the Okavanga river, in Damara 

 Land; and Wahlberg procured it in Caffraria. Mr. Gurney has recorded it from Natal; and 

 Mr. Ayres states (Ibis, 1878, p. 287) that he obtained it in the Transvaal in December and 

 March, and at Potchefstroom in November; and there is a specimen in the British Museum 

 from Cape-town. 



The Willow-Wren does not penetrate far into Asia. Dr. Severtzoff makes no record of it from 

 Turkestan ; but Mr. Blanford, who obtained it in Persia, writes (E. Persia, ii. p. 180) as follows : — 

 " The Willow-Wren must be scarce in Persia ; for this was the only specimen obtained. Probably 

 a few winter in the southern part of the country, but breed beyond our limits to the north. 

 Phylloscopus trochilus is recorded by Menetries from the Caucasus and Lenkoran, and by 

 De Filippi from the Lar valley, near Tehran; but I am not aware that it has been found 

 further to the east. The occurrence of this bird in India was asserted by Gould, apparently 

 upon insufficient authority ; and, although included by Jerdon in his ' Birds of India,' it is 

 placed amongst the doubtful species in his appendix, and its existence in the country has never, 

 so far as I know, been confirmed by any Indian ornithologist." In the north of Asia the present 

 species ranges much further east than in the south; for Mr. Seebohm met with it on the 



