268 



Measure- Average of 100 eggs (85 by the writer and 15 by Rey). 18.03x13.90, 



Max. 19.6 X 14.3 and 18.5 X 14.5, Min. 17 X 13.5 and 17.1 X 13.2. 

 Rey gives the average weight as 94 mg., and Ban as 92 mg. [An Eastern 

 form of this species, C. cetti cettioides Hume, which breeds in Trans- 

 caspia, the Kirghis steppes, Turkestan and N. Persia, lays similar but 

 apparently rather larger eggs, if one may judge from the few specimens 

 examined. Average of 4 eggs from Persia, 20 X 14.5.] 



124. Moustached Warbler, Lusciniola melanopogon (Temm.). 



Plate 28, fig. 22—25 (Dinnyes, Hungary, V. 92). 



Eggs: Dresser, pi. — , fig. 19 — 21. 



Foreign Names: Germany: lamariskensdnger. Hungary: Fiile- 

 miile sitke. Italy: Forapaglie castagnolo 



Lusciniola melanopogon (Temm.). Dresser, B. of Europe. II, p. 605 and 

 Man. Pal. Birds, p. 128. L. melanopogon melanopogon (Temm.). Hartert, 

 Vog. Pal. Fauna, p. 540. 



Breeding Range: E. Spain, Italy, Sicily, Hungary and possibly 

 also the Balkan Peninsula. [Also said to be resident in Lower Egypt.] 

 Con- The breeding range of this species is not yet thoroughly worked 



out, but there seems little doubt that it is resident in the lagoons of 

 E. Spain, such as the Albufera of Valencia, and possibly also in the 

 province of Gerona, although wrongly identified eggs have been sent 

 from Spain as those of this bird. Crespon regarded it as resident in 

 Gard, in southern France, but it has not been reported by more recent 

 visitors to the lower Rhone. It is however known to breed in fair 

 numbers locally in Italy, especially in the Maremma of Tuscany and the 

 Roman Campagna and possibly also in Liguria and Venetia. In Sicily 

 Lynes found it breeding plentifully at a small lake near the E. coast 

 (Pantana di Lentini) and it has also been recorded from Messina as 

 resident. It breeds in considerable numbers in Hungary in reed and 

 sedge grown morasses and lakes, and possibly also in Dalmatia and 

 Bosnia. In Greece although it has been met with in the winter, it has 

 not yet been proved to breed. [Shelley obtained specimens at Damietta, 

 and believed it to be resident there, but confirmation of the statement 

 is needed.] 

 Nest. On the Velencze Lake the nest is generally built underneath the 



knots tied by the fishermen by binding the heads of the reeds together 

 as beacons, and neatly suspended by basket handles. Where such sites 

 are not to be found it breeds among the rushes, sedge or old reeds, 

 from 1 ft. to 2 ft. 3 in. above the water. In Sicily Commander Lynes 

 describes the nests as sometimes placed in small bushes growing in 

 shallow water, or among bases of reed clumps at edges of clearings. The 



tinental 

 Europe. 



