68 RUFOUS WARBLER. 



Spain it is abundant from the third week in April until the end of 

 September. To the mainland of Italy it is a somewhat rare 

 straggler ; visiting Malta on its migrations to and from Northern 

 Africa, where, from Morocco to Egypt, it is generally distributed 

 throughout the greater part of the year. In winter it goes as far south 

 as Abyssinia, ascending the mountains of that country in May to an 

 elevation of 3,500 feet. In April, according to Canon Tristram, it 

 arrives in Palestine, and breeds to the south of Beyrout ; but north 

 of the Lebanon we meet with a very closely-allied species, Acdoii 

 faniiliaris : much less rufous on the upper parts, and with the central 

 pair of tail-feathers brown instead of chestnut. The latter breeds 

 in Asia Minor, Persia, Turkey, Greece, the Caucasian district, and 

 Turkestan ; straggling, strange to say, across the line of A'edon 

 galactodes, to Italy and Nice, and even to Heligoland. 



Breeding begins by the end of May ; the rather bulky nest being 

 often placed, without any attempt at concealment, at some distance 

 from the ground, on a branch or in a fork of a tamarisk bush ; some- 

 times between the roots of a tree in a bank-side ; and frequently in 

 the cactus-hedges which border vineyards. Wool, hair, feathers and 

 any soft materials are used for the lining, amongst which a piece of 

 snake's-skin is generally to be found. The eggs, usually 5 in 

 number, are pale grey, streaked and blotched with ash-brown and 

 dull violet, much resembling those of the Tawny Pipit : average 

 measurements '88 in. by '63 in. In its habits this bird is lively and 

 restless, constantly flirting its expanded tail ; whence its Spanish 

 names of ' Alza-cola,' and ' Alza-rabo.' I have not found it to be 

 at all shy, until it becomes conscious of being watched and followed : 

 a proceeding which it naturally resents, as do most birds. The 

 original English name of Rufous Sedge Warbler is remarkably inap- 

 propriate, as the bird is never seen in sedges, and is rather partial to 

 arid places. Its food consists of insects. The song is said to 

 resemble that of the Redbreast. 



Adult male : upper parts chestnut-brown ; a broad whitish streak 

 above the eye to the nape ; quills brown with reddish-buff margins ; 

 tail rich chestnut with a narrow blackish terminal band on the two 

 central feathers, and a broad sub-terminal black band with increas- 

 ingly large white tips from the centre to the outer feathers ; under 

 parts sandy-white, deeper on the breast and flanks ; bill, legs and feet 

 brown. Length 675 in. ; wing to the end of the 3rd and longest 

 quill 3 '5 in. The female is slightly, if at all, paler than the male. 



