272 



common in the Danube valley, while in Italy it is exceedingly local, but 

 occurs in suitable districts of Lombardy, Venetia and JBmilia, as well 

 as in Tuscany (Massaciuccoli), and Sicily (Catania). [It also breeds in 

 Algeria: possibly in Marocco, while Shelley says it is resident in the 

 Fayilm, though it is more likely to winter there: and according to Se- 

 vertzow nests in Turkestan.] 

 Nest. Tjjg approximate site of the nest may be located to some extent 



by the actions of the singing male bird, which utters its monotonous 

 reel from the top of high reeds in the vicinity, with widely opened bill 

 and swelling throat. It is however very difficult to find , being always 

 hidden from above, sometimes but little above water level among masses 

 of broken down reeds, and at other times among the big clumps of 

 dead and matted sedges, perhaps 18 in. above the water, but only to be 

 found by laboriously parting the thick mass of dead vegetation. The 

 nest itself is smoothly and neatly rounded intern-ally, and has been well 

 compared to that of a miniature Rail or Waterhen. According to Newton 

 the material used is the dead leaf of Glycerium, but some nests appear 

 to be built of fragments of dead, brown, reed and sedge leaves. 

 Eggs. Usually 5, sometimes 4 or 6. They are oval in shape, closely 



speckled all over with fine spots of grey brown, less frequently reddish 

 brown, and violet shell markings, on a ground, which is sometimes hardly 

 visible, of greyish white, sometimes with a faint reddish tinge. Occa- 

 sionally a blackish streak is found at the big end, where the markings 

 are generally thickest, and often an egg is found with a distinct zone. 



Breeding In Central Europe eggs may be found from about the middle of 



May to early June, but in England and Galizia few eggs have been 

 taken before the end of May, while in Andalucia Irby says that the 

 breeding season is rather variable, but took 13 nests (all with eggs 

 except one) between May 4 — 13. Some birds however nest much earlier, 

 for I found a nest with young a few days old on April 30 in the Marisma. 

 AVodzicki says that both sexes take part in incubation and sit very 

 closely. From the difference in the nesting dates it seems probable that 

 in some cases two broods are reared. 



Measure- Avcrago of 100 eggs (96 by the writer and 4 by Hartert), 19.68 X 14.55, 



Max. 21.5 X 15 and 20.7 X 15.4, Min. 17.5 X 13.6. Cerva records a 

 dwarf, 17 X 8. Average weight of 8 eggs, 108 mg. 



[A paler Eastern form, L. luscinoides fusca Sev.), breeds in Trans- 

 caspia and Turkestan.] 



Season. 



ments. 



