192 1.] U^inter Avifauna of the Camargxie. 601 



There is no difficulty in distinguishing it in life from the 

 Sedtre-Warhler, with which I am fiiniiliur. The broad buffv 

 stripe down the centre of the crown, bounded on both sides 

 l)y an even broader blackish one, is a very diagnostic field- 

 character. The back and rump are more conspicuously 

 streaked, and all the birds I saw had some narrow streaks on 

 the sides. 



The Aquatic Warbler was found only in what I should 

 call a tussock-marsh, where the water was comparatively 

 fresh and the vegetation not more thiin a foot high. 1 saw 

 none in bushy places along ditches or in the reed-beds. 

 While very secretive in habits, it couLl not be called exactly 

 shy. A tussock is a rather restricted environment, and the 

 bird is forced to fly to reach the next one^and in this way its 

 presence can be discovered. It dives hastily into the base 

 of the tussock, and the slight wobbling of the vegetation is 

 the only sign of its presence. About once every two minutes 

 the performance is repeated. It will not flush unless the 

 tussock in which it is hiding is actually kicked. By taking 

 advantage of this habit, and the fact that when unalarmed it 

 tends to travel in a straight line, a satisfactory observation 

 can finally be made. Mark the tussock in which the bird has 

 taken refuge, and make a detour, and seat yourself on 

 another tussock directly in the probable line of progress. 

 After about a minute's perfect quiet the moving of the 

 vegetation will prove that the danger is supposed to be over, 

 and as likely as not the bird will fly in your direction. Your 

 presence jirouses more curiosity than anything else if perfect 

 silence and quiet is maintained, and a little head and bright 

 eye will emerge for a few seconds from the grass to inspect 

 you. Apparently the ear is more easily offended than the 

 eye. On one occasion a bird mounted to the summit of a 

 tussock and sat quietly for several minutes, while I was 

 sitting perfectly still about twenty-five feet away. 



There seems to be considerable question as to the status of 

 this species in the (Jamargue. CJrespon states emphatically 

 that it is a resident, and mentions having killeil several in 

 winter. ' Les Kichesses ' oives it as a common miorant in 



