ACROCEPHALTS ARUNDINACEUS 115 



ciliary stripe, extending from the base of bill to behind the ej^e, buff ; lores 

 and ear-coverts olive-brown ; chin and throat white, shading into buff on 

 the breast and abdomen, and bright yellowish-buff on the Hanks, crissum 

 and under tail-coverts. 



Iris dark brown ; bill dark brown ; inside of bill orange-yellow ; feet 

 pale brown. 



Total length 7'50 inches, wing 4, culmen -75, tarsus 1'20. 



Adult female similar to the male, but shghtly smaller. 



Although I have only occasionally met with this species in 

 Tunisia, I believe it to be by no means nncomnion there as a summer 

 migrant, arriving in April and leaving again in the autumn. Among 

 the tamarisk thickets bordering the banks of the Oued Hattoub near 

 Kasrin, in Central Tunisia, I found the species in certain numbers 

 and in North Tunisia it seems to occur generally wherever high reed- 

 beds and similar aquatic vegetation are to be found. In Algeria, 

 according to Loche and other authors, the species is very common, 

 and it seems to be found in Marocco also. Owing to its large size 

 and noisy song this bird does not easily escape notice, although it 

 keeps more or less to the thicker clumps, and does not often venture 

 into the open country. Its notes are rather harsh and unmusical, 

 and may be heard at all hours of the day. Its food consists chiefly of 

 aquatic insects. It is rather pugnacious, and does not brook the 

 presence of other smaller birds in its immediate vicinity, driving them 

 away should they venture to intrude on its territory. 



The nest of the species, like that of some other members of the 

 genus, is artistically built of rush-leaves and filaments neatly inter- 

 woven, and attached to the stems of aquatic plants two or three feet 

 above the level of the water. The eggs, four or five in number, are 

 of a pale bluish-green, with grey and brown spots. Average measure- 

 ments 23 X 19 mm. 



The present species is very distinct from its eastern ally, A. 

 stentoreiis, the latter having a much longer bill and a much shorter 

 wing. 



