Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 2 of 9.djvu/20

 it is very numerous, also in the vicinity of the River Kama and its tributaries. It also occurs in the Provinces of Kasan, Viatka, Simbirsk, Samara, the northern parts of Orenburg, and we lose sight of it in the Ural Mountains and the Kirghiz Steppes. On migration it passes through Astrakan, Worometz, Orel, Tchernigov and Kiev. On the River Dnieper it is rare, but it occurs near Odessa and on the Crimea. On the northern slopes of the Caucasus it is not uncommon, but in Trans-Caucasia it is apparently a rare visitor, specimens having been obtained near Tiflis. On the autumn migration it has been found on the Eiver Amu Daria and as far east as Gilgit.

Its winter range is an extensive one. We find it common in Somaliland and Abyssinia, rare on the White Nile, but again common in Nubia, Egypt, Tunis, Algeria and Morocco. In Spain it is numerous, also in parts of the Pyrenees and the Province of Savoie, and individuals sometimes remain as far north as Normandy. A few are resident in Switzerland, but only in the neighbourhood of Geneva and in some of the more western parts. In Italy it is very common, more particularly in the south, and it also visits Corsica. In Greece and Corfu it is very plentiful, especially among the mountains in Attica, and we can trace it as far east as the south-western parts of Persia.

This bird is probably the best known of all the Warblers that visit Great Britain, so well known that it may, perhaps, to many seem almost superfluous to attempt to add anything new relating to its habits. But it is, indeed, almost impossible to study systematically any species—in fact, any organism—no matter how common, without continually adding to our store of knowledge and noticing new facts; and such facts may lead to the solution of problems connected with the mystery of life and the greater mystery of development.