78 Rev. II. 13. Tristram on the Orrdthology of Palestine. 



vain for its nest^ one of my special desiderata. Calamoherpe 

 strepera and Calamodyta phragmitis were very common from the 

 last week in March in every locality where the herbage and 

 moisture gave them the slightest cover. All the species re- 

 turned about the same time, with the exception of Calamoherpe 

 arundinacea and C. strepera, which preceded the others by about 

 a fortnight in the beginning of March ; and I see, on reference 

 to my note-book, that we obtained a specimen of every Marsh- 

 Warbler on our list between the 28th March and the 4th April. 

 C arundinacea was, next to the Reed- and Sedge- Warblers, the 

 most abundant species ; and its harsh dissonant note, or rather 

 screech, which some one has imposed upon Dr. Jerdon by calling 

 a "charming" song (!), might be heard at sunrise from every 

 tuft of tall canebrake. Truly I can wish the flatterer who called 

 its note "charming" no greater punishment than to have to 

 camp, as we had, near a reed-bed when half a dozen of these 

 noisy birds made the moonlight night hideous with their jarring- 

 scream. There is one species which we could not obtain, which 

 I saw repeatedly among the papyrus-swamps of the waters of 

 Merom (Lake Huleh), a region which is an impregnable refuge 

 for every sort of marsh- and water-fowl. It looked just like the 

 common C. arundinacea, perhaps smaller ; but its note, though 

 quite as harsh, was far more powerful than any I had ever heard. 

 At the time I supposed the bird, which it was hopeless to 

 attempt to secure, to be C. hrunnescens of India ; but on reading 

 Mr.AUen's notice of Acrocephalus stentorius (Ibis, 1 864, p. 97), 

 I have not the smallest doubt of the identity of the Hulch 

 bird with his Damietta specimen. But besides this there are, 

 so far as I can judge, two distinct forms of C. arundinacea in 

 Palestine, the one decidedly darker and larger than the other, — 

 the wings being in the one 3"6 inches, in the other 4'1 from the 

 carpal joint, and the tail respectively 3 and 3*75 inches in length. 

 There is also a very slight difference in the relative length of the 

 second and third primaries. But, with a large series before me 

 from every part of the Mediterranean countries noi'th and south, 

 I am unable to discover any difference sufficiently clear on which 

 to found a specific diagnosis, unless it be the disproportionate 

 length of the tail, which does not occur in any of my French, 

 Spanish, Algerian, or Egyptian specimens. 



