Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 9 of 9.djvu/15

 

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ORPHEAN WARBLER.

 

Sylvia orphea, Hewitson, Eggs of British Birds, 3rd Ed., vol. i, pp. 133-134, pl. 35, fig. 3 (egg), 1851; Yarrell, British Birds, 4th Ed., edited by Newton, vol. i, pp. 423-426 (woodcut), 1873; Dresser, Birds of Europe, vol. ii, pp. 411-416, pl. 64 (coloured figures of adults), 1874; Lilford, Coloured Figures, vol. iii, pp. 57-58, pl. 29 (coloured figures of adults), 1893; Saunders, Manual of British Birds, 2nd Ed., pp. 45-46 (woodcut), 1897.

Sylvia orpheus, Seebohm, British Birds, vol. i, pp. 390-393, pl. 10, fig. 4 (egg), 1883.

French, Bec-fin Orphée; German, Orpheus-Grasmücke; Hungarian, Dalos poszáta; Italian, Bigia rossa; Spanish, Ganarǐa.

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLUMAGE.

 

Adult Male in Spring.—The crown is dull blackish grey blending on the hind neck with the brownish grey colour of the upper parts. The wings are dark brown, the primaries and outer secondaries being narrowly and the innermost broadly edged with the same colour as the back.

The primary coverts and bastard wing are brownish slate edged with the same colour as the back. The tail-feathers, with the exception of the outermost, are dull blackish brown edged with the same colour as the back, the outermost ones being white with black shafts and a blackish brown wedge-shaped spot on the inner web. The under parts are white faintly washed with buff on the breast and distinctly washed with greyish buff on the flanks, and the abdomen proper is white. The under tail-coverts are greyish, broadly edged with whitish buff. The under side of the tail is greyish brown, the shafts of the feathers being brown except the outermost ones, which are white. The iris is bright sulphur yellow, the bill slate brown, and the feet brownish grey.

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