1921.] Birds of Macedonia. 209 



aquatic ve(2;etation. Beds of reed-mace usually fill the 

 centre oE the |>onds. In these thick masses of reeds and in 

 the half-rotten and wind-hruised " flags " oTowino- on the 

 banks the (.Jhiffchatt's spent the winter months. There was a 

 certain phice near Ormanli where I could always rely on 

 finding one or more of these birds, even in the most severe 

 weather in January and February. In windy weather 

 they would be difficult to see and would spend the day 

 creeping about the undergrowth near the ground or water. 

 At the end of March they disappeared, but immigrants 

 arrived very earlv. I infer that the birds wintering in 

 Macedonia go north to breed and move before birds that 

 winter farther to the south appear in their place, but as 

 birds of passage only. Not seen in summer. 



Phylloscopus trochilus. Willow-AVarbler. 



Cettia cetti. Cetti's Warbler. 



Numerous in the summer. The nests were extremely 

 difiicult to find. I was unsuccessful in the breeding-season, 

 but have no doubt that this Warbler breeds in suitable places 

 between the Seres Road and Kopriva. A nest at Orljakwas 

 situated quite in the middle of a dense mass of brambles ; 

 another in a tall and very thick hedge corner. Both these 

 were found in the autumn, long after the birds had gone and 

 the leaves fallen, although I had searched diligently for them 

 in the previous May. 



Acrocephalus schcenobaenus. Sedge-Warbler. 



Sylvia borin. Garden Warbler. 



Sylvia atricapilla. Blackcap. 



Sylvia communis. Whitethroat. 



Seen 12 April ; heard singing the same evening. Found 

 commonly over the country by 14 April. Breeds commonly. 

 According to other observers my first date is a late one, but 

 although there may have been Whitethroats in the country 

 before 12 April I never saw them on the Struma plain. 



