288 Mr. T. Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 



This species entirely inhabits the dense sedges of our 

 swamps, where it hides pretty carefully, but towards evening- 

 appears a little more boldly, to feed amongst the sedges on the 

 edges of the little rivulets, 



[Other specimens of this Warbler from Transvaal have 

 recently been acquired by the British Museum. — J. H. G.] 



291. AcRocEPHALus ARUNDiNACEUs (Linn.). European 

 Greater Reed- Warbler. 



Acrocephalus fulvolateralis, Sharpe *. 



Male, shot at Potchefstroom, 27th March. Total length 

 8 inches, bill 1, tarsus Ij (fully), wing 3f, tail 3. Head 

 slightly crested ; irides pale dusky hazel ; bill dusky, except- 

 ing a considerable portion of the lower mandible, which gra- 

 dually pales from the tip to the gape ; inside of mouth bright 

 orange-red ; tarsi and feet pale ash-colour, soles of the feet 

 very pale yellow. Stomach contained insects. 



This is here the scarcest species of the genus; I have 

 only occasionally seen them in the hedgerows of the town, 

 principally among the low fig-trees, never amongst the reeds 

 or sedges of the open country, 



[The specimen sent is in moult, and agrees with the type 

 of A. fulvolateralis in the British Museum ; but Mr, Seebohm 

 informs me that he does not consider the latter to be speci- 

 fically distinct from the European A. arundinaceus ; and, so 

 far as I can judge, this opinion is well founded. — J. H. G,] 



Acrocephalus b^ticatus (Vieill.). Lesser South- African 

 Heed-Warbler. 



Female, shot 27th April. Irides pale ashy brown ; bill 

 pale, but dusky along the ridge and on the tip of the under 

 mandible ; tarsi and feet light yellowish ash-colour. 



This little Warbler appears in the spring, and remains all 

 through the summer. It is here now (23rd October), enli- 

 vening the place with its constant babbling. It appears to 

 stick pretty much to the pollard willows in the hedgerows of 

 the town ; but it also frequents the rose-hedges and some- 

 times the reeds along the hedgerows. The numbers of in- 

 * Vide 2nd edition of Layard's ' Birds of South Africa,' p. 280. 



