SYLVIIN^,. 



83 



THE GREAT REED-WARBLER. 



AcROCEPHALUS TURDOiDES (Meyer). 



The Great Reed-Warbler is another migratory species which, like 

 the Icterine Warbler, is so common on the Continent that it is 

 a marvel its visits to our shores are so few and far between. It is 

 not a bird likely to escape notice : on the contrary, its powerful 

 chattering song and large size would at any time attract attention ; 

 yet the fact remains that it has been very rarely obtained in 

 England. The first on record was obtained near Newcastle on May 

 28th 1847 by Thos. Robson (afterwards well known as a collector 

 at Ortakoi, near Constantinople) ; three are stated — though on the 

 authority of a dealer whose traffic with Holland was notorious — to 

 have been obtained in Essex and Kent about 1853 ; Mr. Goodchild 

 informs me that an example shot near Sittingbourne is in the 

 collection of Mr. G. Thomas ; Mr. W. O. Hammond shot one near 

 Wingham, Kent, on September 14th 1881 ; and one was obtained 

 near Ringwood, Hampshire, on June 3rd 1884. Statements as to 

 the finding of eggs supposed to belong to the bird are not wanting, 

 but none of them are authenticated. In YarrelFs ' British Birds,' 

 until the 4th Edition, this species was called the Thrush-like 



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