LESSER WHITETHROAT. 
119 
as Russia: it is abundant in Asia, and is supposed to pass 
the winter in the warmest parts of that quarter of the globe, 
and in Africa. 
The plumage of this species, taken from an adult male 
specimen shot the middle of May, is as follows :—head and 
ear-coverts very dark slate-colour, tinged slightly with brown. 
Eyelids and corners of the gape grey, the feathered orbits 
surrounding the eyelids a little browner than the rest of 
the head. The wings and tail are rich dark brown ; the 
outer feather of the tail whitish. The back, scapulars, and 
upper tail-coverts are slate-colour, tinged with brown. The 
whole under parts, including the chin and under tail-coverts, 
beautiful greyish-white. Under coverts of the w'ing greyish- 
white. A very slight tinge of yellowish-brown upon the 
flanks and sides of the breast, beginning below the white 
of the throat. The beak is dark-grey, almost black, except 
the base of the under mandible, which is lead-colour. The 
legs and toes are very dark lead. The iris pale greyish- 
brown. In young birds, the eyelids and corners of the 
mouth are yellow. 
The entire length of this species is five and a half inches. 
The wing measures, from the carpus to the tip, two inches 
and a half; the first quill-feather nine lines, the second is 
one line shorter than the third and fourth, which are equal, 
and the longest in the wing. The tail, as represented in 
the plate, has the middle and outer feathers rather shorter 
than the intermediate ones. The legs are small and delicate. 
In preserved specimens, it is sometimes difficult to dis¬ 
tinguish readily the difference between this and the preceding 
species, when the colours of the legs and beak are faded ; 
but in all states a constant distinction may be found in the 
first quill-feather, which, in the larger whitethroat, is scarcely 
half the length of the same feather in the present species. 
The egg of the Lesser Whitethroat is figured 68 in the plate. 
