O R P H E A N W A R B L E R .
Sylvia orphea, Temm.
ORPHEAN WARBLER,
SY L V IA ORPHEA, Temm.
Sylvia orphea, Temminck, Man. cFOrn. p. 107 (1815); Naum.
ii. p. 445; Hewitson, i. p. 133; Yarr. ed. 4, i. p. 423;
Dresser, ii. p. 411.
Bee-fin orphee, French; Orpheus-Grasmücke, German;
Canaria, Alamero, Spanish.
There do not appear to be more than two well-
authenticated instances on record of the occurrence of
this species in England, although more than one nest
containing eggs, attributed to the Orphean Warbler,
have been met with in this country. My own acquaintance
with this bird has chiefly been cultivated in Spain;
I found it exceedingly common in the neighbourhood of
Madrid and Aranjuez. In these localities I generally
met with it frequenting the avenues of elm and deciduous
bushes in the gardens and open country, as a rule
avoiding thickly wooded districts; in Andalucia, on the
other hand, our bird appeared especially to frequent the
pine-woods, and the willows that grow thickly along
certain portions of the course of the Guadalquivir. The
nests that we found were placed at various heights, from
5 to 20 feet from the ground, often resting on the