Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/37

Rh lemon-yellow plumage still adhering to it," to Mr. Gätke, who at first inclined to the idea that it belonged to a species of Regulus, but Aeuckens emphatically insisted that the bird was a Warbler. It was not till the year 1879, when Von Homeyer visited him, bringing a Siberian skin of P. proregulus, that he fully satisfied himself his wing belonged to a bird of that species. On Oct. 29th, 1875, Aeuckens, accompanied by his nephew, again saw a bird of this species a few steps in front of him, under the edge of the cliff, in such a position that had he shot it, it would have fallen into the surf below; they had ample leisure to contemplate the bright lemon-yellow plumage of the lower part of its back, but no opportunity offered of securing it. Finally, by the occurrence of the specimen at Cley on Oct. 31st last, after various changes and much confusion, we are able to restore Mr. Gould's so-called Dalmatian Warbler—really Pallas's Willow Warbler—to a place in the list of accidental visitors to Britain; and it may be that, attention having been called to the distinguishing characters of the species, it will be found, as in some other instances, to be of more frequent occurrence than has hitherto been suspected.

The distribution of this species is thus given by Mr. Seebohm in the 'Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum' (vol. v. p. 72):—"Pallas's Barred Willow Warbler breeds in the subalpine districts of South-eastern Siberia, and throughout the alpine districts of the Himalayas from Cashmere to Burma, passes through North China on migration, and winters in South China, Burma, and Bengal"; and, it may be added, occasionally straying as far westward as Heligoland and the east coast of Britain. Mr. Dresser, in part ii. of the Supplement of his 'Birds of Europe' (March, 1895), gives some very interesting particulars with regard to the distribution and breeding habits of this species, in which, however, he exercises considerable discretion, as it has so often been confounded with Phylloscopus superciliosus: "In its habits, mode of life, and nidification, although it cannot well be separated generically from the Phylloscopi, it shows affinity to the genus Regulus, whereas P. superciliosus is a true Willow Wren." Mr. Gätke is of opinion that there exists a difference between the Siberian and Indian forms of this bird; but Mr. Dresser, as a result of his examination of