the year. Towards the iTO mAeIw^ ;n tbe woods o f chestnut- and walnut-trees, m the poplars and
^ r S ^ e r " the roads and fiekku in " ^
H M H i in the midst o f marshy ground for the purpose of nidification,
ciate with thatspec.es untd they depart. d; o f them, and vice verea. The
and employ the — of trees or u n d e rw ld , and is outwardly composed
nest is attached by me “« nt t s jm p a e t.y bound together wtth fibrous filaments- the interior is
of lichens, roots mosses ^ J 5 ^ ^ ^ ^ r f May ^ female deposlts
composed of b.ts y ^ ^ various. si2(;d ^ 0f greyish ash-colour, parfour
or five eggs, o f a ' f "orm a L e . While sitting, the female is carefully attended by her ■ 3 1 IBM! WOrms, small reptiles, and occasionally a beahfhl of insects. She sits with sounuch
TsS'uity as to S ow herself to ^ ^
keeps^dmnf warm mider B R | Tn.il t i e other undertakes the same duty. Their constant goings and
i H i l a s well as their want of suspicion, during this epoch, are often t h e c a u s e of their progeny
C - I f i • fienpstprs shenherds especially; these last, indeed, are in the habit of marking,
all the trees and bushes where they may see these birds stop. After the young
during the ne g ^ ^ femi] antd lheir mlgratIDn> which
have left the ne;st .he » t o ^ ^ ^ ^ from ^ u t „ 15th of
s °mtemherS for the others Before this period, families not yet disunited are seen following one another
in short flights over the hedges and trees which border the roads, streams, or fie ld s-p e rch .o g from time
H BM M i of L dead or more isolated branches, from which they utter their harsh and
l r . cries They wage war with beetles, caterpillars, frogs, small lizards, mice, and occasional y wealdy
birds. When these kinds of food are wanting, they have recourse to ftu.ts, especially to those o f the smaU
^ H ^ i f g ^ n u m b e r ^ f specimen^ oTthis bird now before me from various countries wide apart I cannot bnt
notice that they differ considerably in size, and to some extent in their m a rkm g s-th o se from Tangier being
ver much sm ile r than the examples from Smyrna, Trebizond, and Italy, having the band crossing the ft,«:
head much narrower, and the white of the lores more extensive. The depth o f the buff colouring of
flanks differs greatly in all of them, probably in consequence of their having been more or less exposed to the
influence of l i|h t. In freshly-moulted birds the body hue shows very conspicuously, but would seem to be
“ male, the lores are creamy white; band across the forehead, line above and below the eye, and a
broad mark posterior to it down the side of the neck b lack ; behind the eye a | H | I _ mar ® J 1 e ’ ,
of the head, nape, and back of the neck rich reddish chestnut; upper p art of the back or mantle black, each
feather slightly edged with rufous; scapularies white; lower p art of the back g rey ; rump and upper ta.l-
coverte wlfitef t ^ g s brown, the coverts narrowly edged with pale brown; a t the base of the primaries a
patch o f white; secondaries narrowly edged and more broadly tipped with white; under surface creamy
white, washed with buff on the flanks; central tail-feathers black; the lateral f a t h e r s | |H | g J E g l
crossed near the tip b y a broad oblique mark o f black, which occupies the inner web only o f the g j g g | § |
the exterior web of that feather and the tips of all the lateral ones being white; .rides hazel; bill, legs, and
“ the young quit the nest," says M. Bailly, “ about the end o f August, they may berecognizedI by
the dusky red of the upper parts, with the exception of the head, which is adorned wit a mix urci o w . e
and grey, and the rump, which is marked with brown ; the under surface dirty white, with crescentii of giey.
After their first moult, the upper part of the head, the neck, and the scapnlar.es are varied with white red,
H and black; tbe back is brown; the rump
the white of the wing is shaded with russet; and the primaries are brown, tipped with white or reddish.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the size of life.
! 11 1 1 i I i 11 'I \ !11U! 11H Yi a! 111 llTli I lltl 11 !i 1! i! 11 !* 1! i i ffffl RilirU i