42 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
obscure darker centres ; tail Jyrown, faintly barred ; beneath 
pale brown, spotted with dafker brown on neck and breast ; 
under tail-coverts with darker centres; bill, legs and feet 
brown; irides brown. Length 5°45 inches; culmen 0°35; 
wing 2°45, tail (much rounded) 2°2: tarsus 0°7. 
Young: More conspicuously marked above and ¢hroat and 
chest speckled with brown ; otherwise similar to adults. 
Distribution : Summer visitant to temperate Europe, in- 
cluding the British Isles, wintering in Northern Africa and 
occasionally in Southern Europe. 
Habitat : Swamps, commons, woods, &c., in dense under- 
growth. 
LANCEOLATED WARBLER. 
Locustella lanceolata (Zemm.) 
Adult Male (Summer): Adove yellowish-brown with a 
greyish tinge, centres of feathers striped with ddack ; wings and 
tail dark brown with pale margins; wxder parts paler and 
yellower, s¢vifed more narrowly and sparsely ; bill blackish 
above, yellowish beneath; legs and feet pale yellowish ; irides 
brown. Length 4°5 to 5 inches; culmen 0°45; wing 2 fo 
2257 tall 1765; tarsus 077, 
Birds of the Year: Whole of the under parts suffused 
with greyish-yellow. 
Distribution : Breeds in Russia near St. Petersburg, also 
in Central Asia, and winters in South-eastern Asia. 
Habitat: Undergrowth in marshy localities. 
RIVER WARBLER. 
Locustella fluviatilis (Wo//). 
Adult : Above almost untform olive-brown ; beneath, throat, 
chest and flanks washed with dull brown and marked with 
darker brown; chin and abdomen white; under tail-coverts 
pale rufescent-buff with broad white tips; bill dark horn, 
yellowish at base beneath ; feet pale flesh-colour ; irides brown. 
Length 5°5 inches; culmen o'5; wing 2:9; tail 2°33 tarsus 
o°8 
