in Corfu, ^c, with Notes by H. E. Strickland. 415 



the cock bird clinging to the top of some high reed watching his 

 mate, who builds her nest suspended about a foot above the water, 

 attached to the stems of four reeds, and lays four or five eggs ; 

 they take their departure about the end of August. 



Sylvia olivetorum (Strickland). This bird is very common in Corfu ; 

 it arrives about the 15th of May : they frequent the olive-groves ; 

 their song is very fine, and though not loud, has more music in it 

 than that of most birds ; it moves to the south in August*. 



palustris. Arrives about the same time as the above, and from 



the similarity of its song might be mistaken for it. I have how- 

 ever heard it imitate other birds with great efl'ect : though I have 

 seen it along the banks of rivers and in the marshes, yet I have 

 more frequently found them in the olive-groves. 



phragmiti$(B.). Common: sedentary. 



arundinacea (B.). Common : sedentary. 



■ luscinia (B.). Arrives about the 10th of April, but does not 



remain. 



ruhiginosa. Very common in Corfu ; it arrives about the 10th 



of May and remains throughout the summer. This bird is named 

 the rufous sedge warbler (Gould), a name in my estimation not at 

 all appropriate, as it is never seen among sedges or in marshy places, 

 but frequents the vineyards and olive-groves, especially the former, 

 where the male may be constantly seen on a clod of earth or on 

 the stump of a vine, jerking his broad tail over his back and spread- 

 ing it out like a fan, at the same time uttering his monotonous 

 chant, which consists of four or five notes, commencing low and 

 ending high, and is repeated very quickly. I should rather call it 

 the fan-tailed warbler, as being a name more suited to its habits. 

 atricapilla (B.). Arrives about the 20th of March and is very 



numerous during its passage, but does not remain. 



— melanocephala. Very common : remains all the year round. 



— cinerea (B.). Arrives beginning of April : breeds. 



— ruhecula (B.). Arrives about the 1st of October and takes its 

 departure the end of February ; on their arrival these birds may be 

 seen hung up in the market in bunches, and are sold as Becaficas, 



tithys (B.). Arrives in the autumn and remains all winter. 



phoenicums (B.). ^Passes on its way north about the end of 



March, but does not remain. 



hippolais. 1 Arrive in the spring : a few remain to breed, 



trochilus (B.). J but they are most numerous in September 



and are then very fat, and are eagerly sought after by the Greek 

 sportsmen ; (these, as far as I can learn, are the true Beca-fica so 

 esteemed by epicures). Of S. trochilus a few remain during the 

 winter. 



* This species, first described in Gould's * Birds of Europe* from a spe- 

 cimen which I obtained in Zante in 1836, appears not to have been noticed 

 out of the Ionian Islands, though it migrates (doubtless to Africa) in winter. 

 Capt. Drummond's observations on its habits precisely coincide with my 

 own. It is now placed in the genus Calamoherpe by the Prince of Canino. 

 — H. E. S. 



