298 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
ON THE FURZE WARBLERS OF FRANCE. 
By Couuinawoop INGRAM. 
Durine a recent excursion through Western France I was 
able to collect a small series of Furze Warblers. Having com- 
pared these with specimens in various French museums and with 
those in the British Museum, I have come to the conclusion 
that the form found in the soft climate of Western France (and 
probably down the Atlantic coast as far as Spain) is inter- 
mediate between the British Sylvia undata dartfordiensis, Lath. 
and the typical Sylvia undata from Provence, &c. In my 
opinion, therefore, Cretté de Palluel’s name aremoricus (‘ Ornis’ 
x., p. 42) should be retained for this western race. 
We will compare the upper surface first. All the English 
specimens I have examined have these parts hair-brown, at all 
seasons darker and browner than in S. w. aremoricus. Admittedly 
the latter bird, even in worn plumage, has the back (and, to a 
lesser extent, the head) washed with brownish, but this colour is 
constantly lighter and of a ‘“‘greyer’”’ shade. (It must be 
remembered that the brown coloration is always more pro- 
nounced in the freshly acquired plumage of autumn and 
winter.) During the summer the typical S. wndata has the 
crown and back almost uniform slaty-grey, with only the 
faintest tinge of brown on the mantle. The head is almost 
invariably of a clearer and more slaty hue. Even at a distance 
this gives the bird a noticeably paler and greyer appearance. 
We will now take the under surface. In the English S. wu. 
dartfordiensis the feathers on the throat and upper breast are 
never so distinctly tipped with white, and as the season advances 
these marks disappear almost entirely, even from the throat. 
The vinous-chestnut seems to cover a larger area, and is darker, 
and of a richer and much more rusty hue. S.u. aremoricus only 
differs from this bird by having the under parts slightly less 
rusty in colour. The throat-feathers in summer usually have 
very small, but distinct, white tips. 
