64 



British Birds. 



THE 

 MARSH-WAKBLER. 

 {AcYOcephalus f'lrlnsti'is.) 



but becomes rarer towards the south-western and northern portions of its ran,i;e, 

 and is not 3et known to have occurred for certain in Scotland or in Ireland. Its 

 breeding-area is spread over the greater part of Europe, below the line of the Baltic 

 Provinces and Southern Sweden, as far east as Turkestan ; it winters along the 

 Persian Gulf and in the Mediterranean. 



The Reed-Warbler builds in many of the swamps and ditches of the south of 

 England, its nest being suspended between reeds, but it is not uncommonly found in 

 willow-trees and bushes by the side of the ri\ers. It is a noisy little songster, its 

 notes resembling those of the Sedge-Warbler, and the song is to be heard after 

 darkness has set in. It is, like the rest of the Reed- Warblers, a shy and retiring bird, 

 and is more often heard than seen, e.xcepting before the autumn migration, wlien 

 iamily parties consisting of the old and young birds are often to be noticed on the 

 alders and willows, b}' the river's edge, before they migrate to their southern home. 

 The nest is cup-shaped, made of dry grass with a little wool and thistle-down, and 

 the eggs are from four to six in number, the ground-colour being greenish or greyish- 

 white, with pronounced mottlings and spots of greenish-brown and violet-grey, often 

 forming a ring round the larger end of the egg. 



This species is very similar to the Reed-Warbler, and 

 resembles it in form and in the proportion of the quills, the 

 bastard-primary not exceeding the primary-coverts in length, 

 but with the second primary longer than the fifth. The 

 Marsh-Warbler is very difficult to tell 

 from the Reed-Warbler, and the only 

 characters of importance are the 

 greenish-olive-brown colour of the back, 

 the paler and more sulphur-coloured 

 (less rufous) tint of the buff on the 

 under surface ot the body, and the 

 paler colour of the legs. Nevertheless 

 it is advisable to submit any supposed 

 Marsh-Warblers for the opinion of an 

 expert, as many of the specimens 

 certified in ornithological works to be 

 Marsh-Warblers have turned out, after 

 all, to be only Reed- Warblers. 



On the Continent the Marsh- 

 \Varbler is a thoroughly recognised 

 species, distinguished not only b}' its 

 different colour and its song, but by its 

 nesting-habits, and that the species 

 The Marsh-W.^rbler. comes to Great Britain every summer 



