Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 9 of 9.djvu/28

 light yellow and the under part of the tail light greyish brown. The iris is brown, the upper mandible light horn brown, and the lower buffish flesh colour. The feet are bluish grey. The sexes are alike in plumage. In autumn all the colours are purer, but the upper parts are rather more brown.

This bird is an accidental visitor to the British Islands, the records coming principally from the eastern counties of England and from Fair Isle. That it appears here so seldom is the more curious since it breeds commonly on the Continent.

It is found in north-eastern France as well as in the central and southern parts. To Belgium, Holland, and throughout the greater part of Germany it is a common summer visitor, and generally distributed in suitable localities in Switzerland. Its range extends as far as the Arctic circle in Norway, and it breeds sparingly in Sweden up to Wermland. In Hungary it is seldom seen in summer, though it breeds in suitable localities in Italy. Eastwards it appears to be fairly common in Dalmatia, Montenegro and Bulgaria, but not common in Greece. Whilst rare in Finland—it occurs as far north as Kuopio—it is evidently a common breeding species in Poland, the Baltic Provinces, and Central Russia. Its range in the East extends to the Orenburg region, and it has occurred in the Kirghij Steppes. In the southern parts of Russia it is less common, and the records from the Crimea and the Caucasus are few. It winters in tropical Africa.

I have had no opportunity of really studying this bird, and can therefore only suggest to those more fortunately placed that there seems to be here a fruitful field for investigation. Is its behaviour response similar to that of either the Willow Warbler. Chiff-chaff, or Wood Warbler, and, if not, in what