12 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



specimens of both the northern and southern forms, finds the 

 differences so slight and the individual variations so frequent 

 that he cannot support Mr. Gatke's views. Should such a differ- 

 ence, however, be found to exist, he informs me that the Norfolk- 

 killed bird would certainly belong to the Siberian form. 



" It frequents pine-woods, and those of mixed pine and birch 

 in hilly districts, sometimes ranging in the mountains as high as 

 the border of tree-growth, and it is also met with in the beech- 

 covered valleys." The call-note is said by various authorities to 

 be seldom repeated, and to be rendered as tsii, very different 

 from that of P. super ciliosus ; and the song of the male, which is 

 continued for hours without intermission, is described as melo- 

 dious, varied, and sweet, and "so loud that it rings through the 

 forest, and is astonishing as coming from so small a bird." The 

 nests are placed on the branches of pines or cedars, either near 

 the outer end or where the junction of the bough with the stem 

 takes place ; they are neatly constructed of the materials at hand, 

 such as grass-bents, moss, and lichens, partially domed and lined 

 with feathers and hair. The eggs, which are produced from late in 

 May in the southern localities to the middle of June in Eastern 

 Siberia, are five in number, pure white, richly marked with dark 

 brownish-red and deep purple-grey spots, chiefly at the larger 

 end ; and the female is said to " commence sitting directly the 

 first egg is laid, so that in the same clutch one finds quite fresh 

 as well as incubated eggs" (Dresser, ' Birds of Europe,' Supple- 

 ment, ii. p. 76). 



In my previous notice of the occurrence of this bird, in the 

 December number of 'The Zoologist,' p. 467, I remarked that 

 this species may be distinguished from P. superciliosus by " the 

 pale mesial line on the crown." I should have stated that this 

 " mesial line" in P. superciliosus is much paler than in P. pro- 

 regulus, and that in females and young birds, according to Mr. 

 Gatke, there is not even a trace of it. The most conspicuous 

 difference, however, is the pale yellow colour of the rump in the 

 latter species. 



