or Willow-Warblers. 
93 
accordingly splits P. collybita (then generally called rufus ) into 
P. rw/ws and P. brevirostris. I have repeatedly shot both forms 
of P. collybita , and have no doubt of their identity, being unable 
to detect any difference in their notes or habits. With P. 
trochilus } however, the case is different. So far as my ex¬ 
perience goes (and I have examined some hundreds of skins), 
the second primary in this species is constantly intermediate 
between the fifth and sixth. When I was in the valley of the 
Petchora in 1875, just before we entered the delta of that 
great river, I heard the note of a small Warbler resembling 
the sound tzzzk , not unlike the spitting of a cat. Feeling 
perfectly convinced that it proceeded from a bird with which 
I was unacquainted, I chased it on the banks of the Petchora, 
heard it repeatedly utter its extraordinary note, and finally shot 
it. It turned out to be a female of a species nearly allied to P. 
trochilus, but with the second primary intermediate in length 
between the sixth and seventh. The bastard primary was 
much smaller than usual; and in the general colour of the 
plumage there was an absence of the usual yellow tinge both 
above and below, as is exceptionally the case with P. trochilus 
in extreme summer plumage in high latitudes. Not liking 
to make a new species on somewhat slender grounds from a 
single example, I did not describe it (Ibis, 1876, p. 216). 
Turning up TristranPs description of P. major , I concluded 
my bird to belong to it, and to be a somewhat doubtful 
species, until I visited Heligoland last autumn. Gaetke then 
pointed out to me in the collection of birds in his studio a 
“ Laubvogel ” much greyer on the back and whiter under¬ 
neath than P. trochilus. He told me that he had been at 
some trouble to shoot it in his garden, because its note was 
so different from that of P. trochilus . It turned out to be a 
male. The length of wing and of bastard primary agree with 
those of P. trochilus female, but are smaller than the usual 
size of P. trochilus male. The second primary is interme¬ 
diate in length between the sixth and seventh. A second 
example having thus come under my notice, I am inclined to 
think that Phylloscopus major of Tristram may turn out to 
be a good species after all; but since the name major can- 
