20 THE WARBLERS 



flanks of a more rufous buff. The iris is dark brown and the legs and toes are 

 lavender flesh-colour. Length 5-25 in. [133 mm.]. The sexes are alike. There is 

 no seasonal change of plumage. The juvenile plumage differs from that of the adult 

 in being decidedly more rufous than the adult ; the under parts are buff-coloured, 

 darkest on the flanks, and brightest on the under tail-coverts. The iris is dark 

 greyish brown, and the legs are of light lead-colour, [w. P. P.] 



2. Distribution. A summer visitor to England and Wales (except some of the 

 northern and western counties), and also to the Continent, south of the Baltic Sea, 

 while an Eastern form ranges through Turkestan to Baluchistan and the Altai range. 

 Probably it also nests in Algeria. In the British Isles it is absent from Scotland and 

 Ireland, but is common locally in the southern and midland counties of England, 

 where still water or slow-flowing streams fringed with reeds are met with. It is not 

 found in Cornwall and only in one district of Devon, while in Wales it nests hi Brecon 

 and sparsely in a few localities in the north. In Shropshire and Cheshire it is not 

 uncommon and has bred in Lancashire, but is local in Staffordshire and only found 

 in S. Derbyshire, although on the east side of the Pennines it ranges up to Yorkshire, 

 and has once even bred in Durham according to Tristram. Outside its breeding 

 range it occurs not only on the borders of the Mediterranean but also in West 

 Africa to Gambia, and on the east side south to Zanzibar, but does not visit South 

 Africa. [F. c. B. j.] 



3. Migration. During the latter end of April solitary examples of this summer 

 visitor may occasionally be seen, but it does not arrive in any numbers till the first 

 half of May. Our breeding birds arrive almost entirely along the south-east 

 coast, and records of fresh arrivals to the west of Hampshire are infrequent. It is 

 rather a late autumn emigrant, and may be found in some numbers in suitable 

 places up to the first week in October, [j. L. B.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. The normal nest is built round the stems of reeds at a 

 height of from 1 to 3 ft. above the water-level, but it may also be found among rank 

 vegetation and hi the branches of osiers, lilacs, and other trees at varying heights up 

 to 20 ft. in some cases. Many of these nests in trees are placed at a considerable 

 distance from the nearest water. They are deep internally and are built of various 

 materials, such as grasses, reed flowers, wool, and duckweed, lined with fine grasses or 

 reed flowers and sometimes wool, feathers, or horsehair in small quantities. (Pis. xxi. 

 and 55.) The work of building is performed by the hen, who is accompanied but 

 not assisted by the cock. It is usual to find several nests not far from one another. 

 Eggs, usually 4, sometimes 5 in number, while a few instances of 6 are recorded. 



