3110 Birds. 



preserved, had not the ' Zoologist ' offered for them so appropriate a 

 depository. 



This bird is admirably figured and briefly described in Gould's 

 inimitable * Birds of Europe.' And although this adds little to its 

 history, I will quote it entire, even at the expense of some little repe- 

 tition, in order to render my account of the species as complete as 

 possible. 



Orphean Warbler. 

 Curruca Orphea. Bee -fin Orphee. 



" Although the present species differs in a trifling degree from the 

 more typical examples of the genus Curruca, especially in having a 

 stouter form of beak, which is more deep than wide, we do not feel 

 ourselves at liberty to separate it on such slender grounds, as its ge- 

 neral habits and form overbalance the minutiae alluded to. 



" The Orpheus warbler is an inhabitant of the southern provinces of 

 Europe, and we have more than once received it in collections from 

 India. According to M. Temminck, it is very abundant in Italy, par- 

 ticularly in Piedmont and Lombardy, and the southern departments of 

 France. It is accidentally met with in Switzerland and the adjacent 

 districts, but never occurs in more northern latitudes. On referring to 

 the valuable little work of Professor Savi, on the Ornithology of Tus- 

 cany, we learn that it is there a migratory bird, and much resembles 

 in habits and manners the common whitethroat (Curruca cinerea, 

 Bechst.). Its; food consists of insects and berries, and it builds in 

 bushes, often in company w T ith others of the same species. M. Tem- 

 minck states that in addition to bushes, it also selects holes in ruins, 

 old walls, or under the eaves of isolated buildings, as a site for incu- 

 bation. The eggs are four or five in number, nearly white, irregularly 

 marked with yellowish blotches and small brown dots. 



"The male has the top of the head and ear-coverts brownish black; 

 the whole of the upper surface is of a cinereous brown, with a tinge 

 of olive, the quills and tail being rather darker ; the outer feathers on 

 each side of the latter are white, tinged with reddish brown, which 

 prevails more decidedly on the flanks and under tail -coverts. 



" The female resembles the male, except that the head is of the 

 same colour as the rest of the plumage." 



1 should add, that Mr. G. II. Gray, in his ' Synonymic List of 

 British Birds,' published by the Trustees of" the British Museum, ex- 

 presses a doubt as to this species ; but whether as to its occurrence 



