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Show 280 .AVES. Mot. luscinia, L.; Enl. 615, 2; Naum. 74, 2. (The Nightin. gale.) A reddish brown above; whitish grey beneath; the tail somewhat redder. Every one knows this songster of the night, and the varied melody with which it fills the woods. It builds on trees, and does not begin to sing until the young ones are hatched. The male, then, as well as the female, is occupied in providing them with food. The eastern part of Europe produces a Nightingale, which is a little larger, and whose breast is slightly variegated with greyish tints. Mot. philomela, Bechst.; Naum. 74, 1. The remaining species have the common name of Fauvettes; they are, nearly all, good singers, lively and gay in their manners, con· stantly flitting about in pursuit of insects, and building in bushes, generally in the vicinity of water, among reeds, &c. I place a species at the head of the list, which is so large that it has been almost always classed with the Thrushes.( I) It is Turdus arundinaceus, L.; Sylvia turdoides, Enl. 515; Naum. 81, 1. Reddish brown above; yellowish beneath; throat white; a pale streak over the eye; a little less than the Mavis, (Turd. iliacus, L.) and the beak almost as much arcuated. It nestles among the reeds, and feeds almost exclusively on aquatic insects. Mot. arundinacea, Gm.; La Petite Rouserolle, Naum. 81, 2. Similar to the preceding in habits and colour, but not so large by a third. ft'Iot. salicaria, Gm.; La fauvette de Roseaux, Enl. 581, 2. Still smaller than the last, and the beak proportionably shorter; an olive grey above; very pale yellow beneath; a yellowish streak between the eye and the beak. There are also several small Spotted Fauvettes, inhabiting marshes, &c., which were long confounded under that general name, (Mot. ruevia, Gm.) and which are not yet satisfactorily distinguished.(2) {1) There are some intermediate Fauvettes between the Mot. arundinacea, Gm. and the Turd. arwndinaceus, L., and between the former and the Mot. salicaria, Gm., so that, in my opinion, it is impossible to separate the latter from the Fau· vettes, although I acknowledge the result is an almost insensible transition between the Thrushes and the Motacillre, just as there is between the latter and the straight beaked Shrikes, and between the Thrushes and the Shrikes with arcuated beaks. All these genera are closely allied. (2) See the S. phragmitis, Naum. 82, 1 ;-S. cariceti, Id. 2, 3 ;-S. aquatica, Jd. 4 and 5;-S . .ftwviatilis, Id. 83, 1;-S. locustella, Id. 84, 2, 3. Compare them with the~· locustella, Roux, 229;-S. Schamobe:nus, Id. 230;-S. paludicola, Id. 231,-~· cysttcola, Id. 232 ; as well as the figures of Buff., Brisson, Bechstein, &c. There IS PASSERINJE. 281 . Of the above, we will merely 'notice the F .·, ys t1' co 1e -F.. cys~ tzcola, Tern. . Col. 6, 3, with a fawn colour~>.~., ~• back , spo tt e d W·l t h black, a hgh.t fawn colou1· beneath'· the ta'tl cunei·JrO t·m, eac h feather of whtch has a black spot on its 1'nrer'1 . f Tl · • • 1' 01 sur ace. us spec1es . 1s f.r om the south of Europe ' and m a k es 1't s nest b y approx1matmg t~e leaves of a tuft of grass or carex, which it sews together_wuh t_he filaments of various seeds.(l) Among the species whtch prefer the higher grounds b first, , we o serve Mot. atricapilla, L.; Fauvette a tete noire, En I. 580, 1 and 2; Naum. 77, 2, 3; Roux, 205, bis. Brown above; whitish beneath· a black calotte on the male, a red one on the female. ' Mot. o:phea, Tern.; La Fauvette, Enl. 579, 1; Naum. 76, 3, 4; .8: gnsea, Roux, 213. One of the largest; ashy brown above, whttlsh beneath; some white on the tip of the wing; two-thirds of the external quills of the tail white, the succeeding one marked with a spot at the end, and the rest with a selvage. There have been distinguished within the last few years 8ylvianisoria, Bechst.; Fauvette rayee· Naum 76 1 2' R W . , . ' ' ' oux, 222. h1ch has much less white on the tail, the abdomen of the female being transversely undulated with grey; the largest of the European species. Mot. curruca, L.; Brit. Zool. pl. v, No. 4; Frisch. 21; Naum. 77, 1; Roux, 216. (-r:he White Throat.) Smaller than the preceding ones, and the beak more slender, but the same white on a great part of the first quill of the tail. The head is ash coloured, back brownish. Mot. sylvia, Gm.; 8. cinerea; Fauvette roussatre· Naum 78 J' 2'· . Rz' et-vz·n k , Nosem. II, pl. 97; Enl. 579, 3; ' Roux, •2 20'. R~ddts~ brown-grey above, white beneath; the white on the ta.tl as In the two preceding ones; the quills and coverts of the wmgs edged with red. Mot. salicaria, L.; Sylv. hortensis, Bechst.; La petite Fauvette, Naum. 78, 3; Nosem. 72; Enl. 579, 2; Roux, 221. Has 'nYo genuswhi ch sta n ds more ·m need of a monography and an approximation of the llonymes of different authors, than this. /UAfcdindio tidoe st he · S a~uabc Fau~ettes of Europe, Sylv. galactodes, T~ Col. 251, 1;-S. 55, 2 . R ' avJ. Egypt. 01s. XIII, A;-8. cetti, 1\larmora or Ia Bouscarle, Enl. 6, (I), Se:ux, 2_1~;-S. me/anopogon, Tern. Col. 245, 2. Pita, 1823~ottzta sul nido del Beccamorchino (Sylvia cysticola, Tem.) by 8. p, &vi~ Vot. 1.-2 L |