BRITISH WARBLERS 



colour — not olive grey. There is a distinct, though not 

 prominent, yellowish superciliary stripe, which soon disappears 

 behind the eye. The ear-coverts are light olive ochre, the 

 sides of the head and neck whitish, washed with olive yellow, 

 and the throat whitish. The colour of the under parts varies 

 considerably in different specimens, probably due to sex. In 

 the one case the general colour is whitish, the crop, which is 

 furnished with small brown spots, is washed with light olive 

 brown, the same colour extending down the flanks, and the 

 under tail-coverts olive buff, marked boldly with brown 

 longitudinal spots ; in the other the colour is whitish, washed 

 with light olive buff, giving a rich tone which extends down 

 the flanks : the crop is unspotted. 



The under tail-coverts are almost light buff, incon- 

 spicuously marked with brown longitudinal spots. The tail- 

 feathers are brown, slightly lighter towards the tip, the 

 under surface with lavender. There is no downy plumage 

 in the young. 



The plumage of both sexes is in many ways interesting, 

 since it shows considerable variation. The spots on the 

 throat are not confined to any one age or sex. The majority 

 of the males are similar to the one described first, but vary 

 considerably in intensity of colouring, an absence of spots and 

 a general richness of tone being apparently complementary 

 to one another. Between those that are heavily spotted 

 and those that have the feathers perfectly clear the inter- 

 mediate grades are numerous. The second one described 

 simply marks a stage in the deterioration of the plumage 

 which commences directly coition has taken place and con- 

 tinues up to the moult. The female described appears to be 

 the more uncommon form, and I have only seen one other 

 female that had this peculiarly rich colouring, and hitherto I 

 have seen no male that could compare with it. The plumage 

 of the young is also interesting, since an absence of spots in 

 their case appears to be equivalent to a different tone of 

 colouring. Whether all the members of a brood develop 



