PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 93 
could get a glimpse of a watchful songster, as he, clinging to the middle 
of an upright stalk of some high grass or orchid, did his best in a sing- 
ing match with another of his own kind or a Calliope kamtschatkensis 
or Carpodacus erythrinus. But no sooner did I move my gun to secure 
the longed-for specimen than he silently disappeared, as traceless and 
suddenly as if he was the possessor of Dr. Fortunatus’s cap. The 
only way to obtain one was to watch patiently near his favorite perch, 
with gun in hand. For hours have | sat thus in the wet swamp, almost 
desperate from the stings of the numberless bloodthirsty mosquitoes, 
which I did not dare to wipe off for fear of driving away the silent 
bird, who, after watching my immovable figure until satisfied of his 
safety, came cautiously nearer, slipping between the stems and branches 
near the ground; uttering finally a very low, thrush-like tak ;-tak,—tak ;- 
tak; with his tail held upright, very much in the manner of a long-tailed 
wren. If I kept absolutely quiet he would sometimes come close to my 
feet, looking curiously up at me with his dark pretty eyes. But before 
the challenge of a rival had attracted his attention and provoked a 
reply, which he usually began with a short trill, it would not be advis- 
able to move a muscle. Then it would be time to lift the gun, very 
slowly, hesitating as often as he suspiciously stops his song, until the 
report puts an end to it forever, and I held in my hand a badly muti- 
lated specimen, unfit for preservation; the alternative being to return 
without anything, since by killing him at longer range it would impos- 
sible to find the small plain-looking bird in the dense and luxuriant 
mass of vegetation. 
‘‘ Should the species prove to be a new one, I propose that the name 
of its first discoverer be affixed to it, that the Acrocephalus dybowskii 
might rest as a memento of his meritorious and unwearying work in 
Kamtschatka.” 
3. ANORTHURA PALLESCENS Stejneger, MS. 
Sp. cH.—Adult ¢ (No. 88994, U. S. Nat. Mus., collectior’s No. 1644, 
Bering Island, Sept. 20, 1882). Above dull smoky-brown (far less rusty 
than in A. alascensis), uniform on pileum, nape, and upper back, but 
lower back and rump barred with dusky, the wing-coverts and upper 
tail-coverts still more distinctly barred with the same; middle wing- 
coverts tipped with a small deltoid spot of pure white; outer webs of 
five outer primaries spotted with brownish-white, the remaining quills 
with outer webs plain dull brown. Tail brown, crossed by 6 or 7 rather 
wide bands of blackish, the last three or four rendered more distinet by 
a decided lightening of the brown against their posterior edge; on the 
middle rectrices, however, the bars much less distinct and more irregu- 
lar. Lores, an indistinct superciliary stripe, malar region, chin, throat, 
jugulum, and sides of breast dull light-brownish buff (much paler and 
duller than in A. alascensis), the middle of breast and upper part of 
belly much paler, or inclining to brownish white; sides, flanks, and 
