J 26 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



those which go further north in spring — it is quite possible. At 

 all events I formed a poor opinion of the song of this species. 

 I look forward to hearing it elsewhere. As I have remarked 

 before, the song of H. polyglotta is to my mind vastly superior. 

 There is one more remark of Seebohm's which is worth quoting, 

 viz. " If he were a common bird, one might say he screamed, or 

 even shrieked." 



The Whitethroat (Sylvia rufa) was common, and so was the 

 pretty restless Sardinian Warbler (S. melanocephala) , which has 

 a running song, whitethroatish, but better than the Whitethroat's 

 song, being rather less harsh and more continuous. One of this 

 bird's alarm notes is sharp, harsh, and loud — " ticket ticket 

 ticket" ; another is a kind of " kurrr." 



That fine bird, the Orphean Warbler (5. orphea) was scarce. 

 It has a loud, bold, Thrush-like song, " yoke-a-toy yoke-a-toy 

 yoke-a-toy " (or toy-tay toy-ta} 7 toy-tay) — the three notes are 

 always repeated three times — -preceded by some rich warbling 

 notes (not heard at a distance, and less soft and rich than those 

 of the Garden Warbler) ; then the song goes off into " wich-it- 

 toy wich-it-toy toy-tay toy-tay toy-tay too-tee too-tee too-tee." 

 In mellow richness it approaches the Blackbird's ; it is varied 

 altogether, and not always regular, or nearly so. When I first 

 heard it I was reminded, more than of anything else, of the sweet 

 lively song of the Ochre-headed Greenlet (Cycorhis ochrocephala), 

 which I used to hear in the riverside " montes " of Uruguay. The 

 alarm-note of the Orphean Warbler is a harsh " chadzz." 



Nightingales (Daidias luscinia) were in numbers, and in very 

 fine rich song in May and early June. You could hear them 

 pouring out their songs under the blaze of a mid-day African sun. 



The Wren (Troglodytes parvulus) was not uncommon on the 

 bushed hillsides; and the Blackbird (Turdus merula) fairly 

 common. 



Once or twice I caught sight of a Golden Oriole (Oriolas 

 galbula), or heard its loud, clear, rapid "tlit-a-wee" or " tlit- 

 a-vee-o." 



The Dusky Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus) also I met with, 

 but only very rarely. It has a fine lively and rich song of a few 

 notes only, " tit wot wot tit tit." 



That curious, strikingly coloured little bird, neither quite 

 Redstart nor quite Bushchat, called Moussier's Redstart (Rati- 



