iv The Marsh Warbler 93 



plumage as in their habits, song, and the colour of 

 their eggs. It is, in fact, very difficult indeed, even 

 for a practised ornithologist, to distinguish skins of 

 the two species; 1 and, as will be seen from Mr. 

 Howard Saunders' Manual of British Birds, it is 

 almost hopeless to attempt to figure the two in such 

 a way as to make it clear what the points of differ- 

 ence are. When Professor Newton was editing the 

 first two volumes of Yarrell's well-known work he 

 did not feel justified in treating the Marsh Warbler 

 as a distinct British species ; for he had no personal 

 acquaintance with the living bird, and the evidence 

 of such skins as he had seen was to his exact mind 

 inconclusive. The book which I suppose is most 

 popular among amateurs, that of the late Mr. Morris, 

 leaves the Marsh Warbler out altogether, even in the 

 last editions. For information about the bird's dress 

 we must go to Mr. Harting's Summer Migrants, or 

 to the account of Professor Fatio of Geneva, as 

 translated in part in Dr. Bree's Birds of Europe, or 

 to Mr. Seebohm's British Birds, or to the colossal 

 work of Mr. Dresser. But I cannot say that these 

 skilled authorities by any means agree among them- 

 selves ; and I doubt respectfully whether any one of 



1 Mr. Saunders tells me, however, that he can distinguish them 

 at a glance by the general coloration : so too Mr. Seebohm. Yet 

 Canon Tristram, with his vast experience of skins, assures me that 

 he cannot easily do so ; and I think Professor Newton finds the 

 same difficulty. 



