SEDGE-WARBLER. 353 
Willow-Lark, although Gilbert White appears to have unwittingly done 
his best to confuse him by confounding the Reed- Warbler with the Sedge- 
Warbler*. Pennant, however, was indebted to White for a correct descrip- 
tion of the habits of the bird, which fortunately do not differ much from 
those of its ally. 
This now well-known bird is a common summer visitor to all parts of 
England, breeding more or less abundantly in every county. In his 
‘ Birds of Guernsey,’ Mr. Smith states that it is local and by no means so 
common as the Reed-Warbler. In Scotland it is a very abundant species, 
especially in the western counties, from Wigtown to the north of Argyle ; 
and it is not uncommon in Western Inverness and Sutherland. It becomes 
more local in the Western Islands, being found in Mull and Islay, but is 
apparently absent from the Outer Hebrides. In Ireland the bird is equally 
common and widely distributed. 
On the Continent the Sedge-Warbler has a somewhat extensive range, 
being found in Norway as far north as lat. 70°, in Sweden and North 
Russia to lat. 68°, and in the valleys of the Obb and the Yenesay to 
lat.67°. Its extreme abundance in the latter valley makes it very probable 
that it may occur still further to the east in the valley of the Lena. In 
the south of Europe it is principally known as passing through on migra- 
tion ; but it is said occasionally to remain to breed in Spain, the south of 
France, Italy, and Greece. In Corfu and Crete Colonel Drummond Hay 
states that it is a resident. In Algeria, Egypt, and Asia Minor it is prin- 
cipally known as a winter visitor; but a few probably also remain in these 
localities to breed, as Dixon shot it in the oasis of Biskra in Algeria in 
May. Canon Tristram states that it breeds in Palestine; and Bogdanow 
saw it in the Caucasus in autumn. It does not appear to have occurred in 
Persia; but it is found in North-west Turkestan. It is perhaps more 
abundant in Russia than in any other country, and is generally distributed 
throughout the rest of Europe; but, curiously enough, it is said not to 
occur in South Norway and in Lombardy—two localities apparently well 
suited to its requirements. Its winter range extends far down into South 
Africa, as it has been obtained in Damara Land and the Transvaal. I 
have in my collection two skins from Potchefstrom, in the latter district, 
one dated February and the other dated 18th of April, both of which are 
moulting their quill feathers. 
The Sedge-Warbler arrives in its breeding-haunts by the latter end of 
* It is remarkable that such an accurate observer as Gilbert White should have con- 
fused two such distinct birds together. His description, “head, back, and coverts of the 
wings of a dusky brown, without those dark spots of the Grasshopper Lark,” can only 
apply to the Reed-Warbler; but his further remark, “over each eye is a milk-white 
stroke,” must surely apyly to the Sedge-Warbler. 
VOT FF ae \ 
