THE WARBLERS. 
X89 
THE ORPHEAN WARBLER. SYLVIA ORPHEUS. 
Sylvia orphea, Temm. ; Newt. ed. Yarr., i., p. 423 (1873); 
Dresser, B. Eur., ii., p. 411, pi- 64 (1874) ; B. O. U. List 
Br. B., p. i2 (1883) ; Saunders, Man., p. 45 (1889); Lil- 
ford, Col. Fig. Brit. B., pt. xv. (1890). 
Sylvia orpheus, Seeb., Cat. B. Brit. Mus., v., p. 14 (1881); 
id. Hist. Br. B., i., p. 390 (1883). 
Adult Male.— General colour above slaty-grey, a little clearer 
on the hind-neck ; wing-coverts like the back ; the bastard- 
wings, primary-coverts, and quills blackish-brown, edged with 
ashy-grey ; tail-feathers blackish, edged with ashy, and slightly 
tipped with white, increasing in extent towards the outermost, 
which is white along the outer web and at the tip of the inner 
web for a considerable extent ; head dusky blackish, including 
the lores and ear-coverts, forming a cap which extends as far 
as the nape; cheeks, throat, and under surface of body white ; 
the sides of the breast and flanks ashy-grey with a slight 
pinkish tinge, becoming browner on the lower flanks ; thighs 
creamy-white ; under tail-coverts white, mottled with ashy-grey 
centres to the feathers ; under wing-coverts and axillaries ashy- 
white, with greyish bases; bill dark brown with a yellowish 
base to the lower mandible ; feet and claws leaden-grey ; iris 
pale yellow. Total length, 6-3 inches ; culmen, o'6 ; wing, 
3-1 ; tail, 2-4; tarsus, 0-85. 
Adult Female. — Rather browner than the male, and not so dis- 
tinctly grey; the flanks more isabelline-buff; the breast washed 
with creamy-buff ; the head not so distinctly black as in the 
male, and in many specimens scarcely to be distinguished from 
the back in colour. Total length, 57 inches ; wing, 3'i5 
Young in Autumn Plumage. — After the first moult, the young 
birds are very like the old females, but have the quills externally 
browner ; the head is a little greyer and more dusky than the 
back, and the black lores and ear-coverts are indicated by a 
dusky shade. The principal characteristic of the young bird is 
the colour of the under-parts, the throat being white with a 
pinkish tinge, the fore-neck and chest rosy isabelline, deepen- 
ing into clear vinous on the sides of the body, flanks, and 
