Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 7 of 9.djvu/100

 with a lighter brownish grey, whereas the secondaries are blackish, edged with light yellowish buff. The tail-feathers are dark brown, edged with dull brownish buff, and the under tail-coverts uniform buffish white. The throat and abdomen are whitish, and the rest of the under parts yellowish buff, with or without smaller longitudinal spots on the upper breast. The under side of the wings is lavender brown, the shafts of the feathers being white. The upper mandible is dark brown, and the lower the same colour at the tip, but buffish flesh at the base. Iris is brown, and the feet buffish flesh colour.

The adult female is similar in colouring to the adult male, and when very old has a wash of yellow on the light markings of the head.

In winter the yellowish buff is much richer.

In the case of the young bird the buff is greyer on the upper parts, and the black centres of the feathers are less distinct. The under parts are buffish white, but otherwise the colouring is similar to that of the adult.

This species is but an accidental visitor to Great Britain and nearly all the authentic instances of its occurrence have been in autumn. Most of the records come from Sussex, but it has been obtained in Leicestershire, Kent, Norfolk, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Cornwall, and one was taken at the Bull Rock Lighthouse, Co. Cork.

In Spain it breeds in Andalusia, and it is found in Portugal in spring, summer, and autumn. While it is not an uncommon breeding species in the south of France it becomes scarce towards the north, and in the departments of Somme and Nord occurs on migration only. Although a rare visitor to Belgium and Holland, it passes Heligoland frequently on migration. In Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein it breeds occasionally, but in parts of the German Empire it is not of uncommon occurrence, and becomes even numerous in Silesia.