644 Messrs. Sclater and Mackworth-Praed on [Ibis, 



Acrocephalus agricola agricola. 



Acrocephalus agricola agricola Jerdon; Hartert, Vog. pal. 

 Faun. p. 564. 



[C. & L. coll.] 1 White Nile lat. 9^° N. long. 31° E. 

 Feb. 



This little Warbler does not seem to have been noticed 

 previously in Africa or Arabia, but as it breeds in the Crimea, 

 south-east Russia and eastwards to the Himalaya, and winters 

 in India, it is not unnatural to find it occasionally visiting 

 the Nile valley in winter. It is very like A. b(p.ticatus from 

 south of the Zambesi, but is rather smaller and more rufous 

 in coloration. In J. f. O. 1880, p. 212, Hartlaub described 

 a bird collected at Lado by Emin under the name Acro- 

 cephalus albotorquatus. Subsequently he submitted the 

 specimen to Seebohm, who identified it as a partial albino 

 of the South African A. bceticatus. There can be little 

 doubt in our minds that it is really A. agricola, especially as 

 the wing is given as 55 mm., which is a good deal less than 

 the usual measurement of A. bcetiratus. 



Since writing the above we have found in the British 

 Museum three unidentified Warblers collected by Boyd 

 Alexander, a female at Lake Chad on 11 March and a pair 

 at Fort Archambault on the Shari river on 21 July. We 

 cannot distinguish these birds from A. a. agricola. It there- 

 fore appears that a bird indistinguishable from A. a. agricola 

 breeds in western Africa, and we must leave the explanation 

 of the problem to the future. 



Acrocephalus palustris. 



Acrocephalus palustris (Bechst.); Hartert, Vog. pal. Faun. 

 p. 562. 



Witherby (Ibis, 1901, p. 257) obtained a Marsh- Warbler 

 at Shebesha, a ^ew miles north of El Duem, White Nile 

 Province, on 23 April, 1900, but there are no Sudanese 

 examples in the British Museum. 



This bird winters in tropical Africa as far south as 

 Natal. 



