368 BRITISH BIRDS. 
The Reed-Warbler appears to have been known to Willughby and Ray, 
who most unaccountably placed it amongst their “ Woodpeckers less pro- 
perly so-called”?! but was not accurately described until Brisson’s great 
work appeared. Gilbert White must have been acquainted with the bird, 
which he describes as differing from the Grasshopper Warbler by having 
the head, back, and wing-coverts without the dark spots of the latter 
species. He also identifies his bird with the Lesser Reed-Sparrow of 
Willughby and Ray, which is undoubtedly the Reed-Warbler ; but as in 
a subsequent letter he lays great stress on the white streak over the eye 
and the tawny rump, many writers, amongst whom are Blyth, Yarrell, 
and Newton, have concluded that he meant the Sedge-Warbler. He pro- 
bably confounded the two birds together. Fourteen years afterwards any 
confusion that may have arisen was cleared up by Lightfoot, who 
described both the bird, its habits, and its nest, from observations made 
in West Middlesex. 
The Reed-Warbler is common enough in the south of England; but in 
the north it is very rare, and has consequently acquired, in the eyes of 
northern naturalists, the fascination which naturally emanates from the 
halo of mystery which surrounds rare birds. It seems very doubtful 
whether the Reed-Warbler breeds in Great Britain north of the Humber 
or west of the Mersey. Writing to me of its occurrence in North-east 
Lincolnshire, Mr. Cordeaux states that it is rare. “In the summer of 
1876 and two following years two or three pairs nested in a reedy drain 
in this parish (Great Cotes). Since that period I have not met with them, 
which is more remarkable as they were not disturbed in rearing their 
young. It occurs tolerably regularly on migration through the district im 
the autumn.” It has been recorded from Ireland and Scotland, and is 
even supposed to breed in Lothian; but as the writers who mention its 
occurrence do not appear to have been aware of the singularity of 
the circumstance, we may fairly imagine that no great pains were 
taken to verify the statements, and we may consequently accept 
them with some doubt. On the continent the range of this bird is not 
very limited. It is found in suitable localities in summer throughout 
much harm; and his unscientific nomenclature would have been forgotten as a passing 
eccentricity, if, thirty-two years afterwards, Newton had not adopted it. Asa natural 
consequence, the minor ornithologists blindly followed their leaders—Harting, Blanford, 
Gurney, Dresser, and nearly every contributor of the ‘Ibis’ and the ‘ Zoologist’ adopted 
the new names, until the name of Acrocephalus arundinaceus meant one bird in England 
and another in France and Germany. English ornithologists must accept the penalty of 
having followed such blind guides, and must add an authority (Brisson) to their name, 
or a repudiation of other siguifications, such as nec Gray, nec Newton, or nec Dresser, 
until the confusion produced by these writers has blown over and been forgotten. 
