Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/484

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THE ZOOLOGIST.

at Gibraltar in the autumn of 1898, but at the corresponding season in 1899 they were extremely plentiful and very tame.

R. titys.—One pair of Black Redstarts was noted in November, 1898, but, like the preceding species in 1899, the birds were very much more plentiful than in the year previous.

Erithacus rubecula.—Robins are common both at Arosa Bay and around Lisbon; they are, however, much more shy and retiring than in England. A few occur at Gibraltar in the winter.

Daulias luscinia.—Several Nightingales were observed in the vicinity of Algeciras in April, 1899; and this bird was also noted in Sardinia. Spending a night on one occasion at Algeciras, and being unable to sleep on account of the mosquitoes, I was astonished to hear a Nightingale singing close to the inn, which was quite a quarter of a mile away from gardens of any kind, facing the sea, and surrounded on all its other sides by houses. Rather a strange place for this bird to sing in, I think.

Sylvia cinerea.—The Whitethroat is common everywhere excepting in Sardinia. In the north of Spain it is apparently more plentiful in the spring, and in the south in the autumn.

S. atricapilla.—The Blackcap-Warbler is fairly common at Gibraltar and in its neighbourhood during November and December, and around Arosa Bay in the spring. It bred in the latter place in some numbers. It also occurs in Sardinia.

S. hortensis.—The Garden-Warbler was noticed in the Alameda Gardens at Gibraltar in November and December. At Arosa Bay it was observed in May. This species was less numerous than the preceding.

S. sarda.—The Sardinian Warbler is much the commonest of its genus at Gibraltar, where great numbers breed among the coarse scrub clothing the upper parts of the rock. At Aranei Bay, in Sardinia, it was also observed in fair numbers.[1]

Phylloscopus rufus.—The Chiffchaff was not at all common at Arosa Bay in the spring.

P. sibilatrix.—Wood-Wrens were observed in some quantities during the month of November in the Alameda Gardens at Gibraltar, and one was seen at Algeciras.

Acrocephalus phragmitis.—The Sedge-Warbler was common at Arosa Bay in May.

  1. See remark by Oliver Vernon Aplin on p. 518—Wikisource-ed.