53 



HYPOLAIS OPACA. 



(WESTERN OLIVACEOUS WARBLER.) 



Hypolais opaca, Licht., Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 36 (1850-51). 



Hypolais pallida, L. Gerbe, Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 2 e ser. iv. p. 174 (1852, nee Ehr.). 

 Hypolais opaca, Licht., E. F. v. Homeyer, Journ. fur Orn. 1853, b, p. 92. 

 Phyllopneuste opaca, Licht. Nomencl. Av. p. 30 (1854). 

 Chloropeta pallida, Bp. Cat. Parzud. p. 6 (1856). 



Hypolais arigonis, A. E. Brehm, Allg. deutsch. naturh. Zeit. iii. p. 467 (1857). 

 Hypolais cinerascens & arigonis, A. E. Brehm, 111. Thierleben, p. 865 (1866). 

 Hypolais fuscescens, De Selys, fide Loche, Expl. Scient. d'Alg. Ois. i. p. 271 (1867). 

 Hypolais cinerascens, De Selys in litt. (28 June, 1852), fide Degl. & Gerbe, Orn. Eur. i. 

 p. 506 (1867). 



Cherna, Valencian ; Graiispbtter, German. 



Figura nulla. 



c? ad. Hyp. pallida persiniilis sed major, rostro latiore, remige primo longiore. 



Adult Male (Valencia, 22nd June). Similar in coloration to Hypolais pallida, but larger in size, with a 

 rather larger first primary and a broader bill. Total length about 5£ inches, culmen 0'72, breadth of 

 under mandible at base 0'3, wing 2'8, first primary extending 035 beyond the wing-coverts, and 1*1 

 shorter than the second, second - 25 shorter than the third, third and fourth equal, tail 2"55, 

 tarsus - 9. 



I have hesitated somewhat in keeping the present bird separate from the Olivaceous Warbler 

 (H. pallida, Ehr.), as in a series I find specimens which approach each other rather closely; but 

 I find that, as a rule, the present species is fairly distinguishable by its larger size and broader 

 bill, and have therefore considered it advisable to treat it as a distinct form. First described 

 from Senegambia in 1850 by Dr. Cabanis, who made use of a name by which it appears to have 

 been labelled (but not described) by Lichtenstein ; it was again described in 1852 under the 

 name of H. pallida, which title, however, belongs to the species usually called H. elaica. It 

 appears to have been referred to by the Baron de Selys-Longchamps previous to 1852 as a distinct 

 species, under the name of Hypolais cinerascens ; but I cannot find that this title was published, 

 or that any description was given ; and on writing to Baron De Selys he informs me that he does 

 not recollect having ever published any description, and believes that he only used the name in 

 his museum catalogue. The range of the present species appears, so far as can at present be 

 ascertained, to be somewhat restricted, as it is only known to occur in South-western Europe and 

 South-western Africa. In Spain it is evidently common ; as Mr. Howard Saunders has at dif- 



