PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



differs from that of the immature bird in that there is no black on the head, but 

 the back has a median band of black, [w. P. P.] 



2. Distribution. Found very locally, and only where there are extensive 

 reed beds, from Spain, across Europe and Asia, to Manchuria. The Western race, 

 to which our British birds belong, P. biarmicus biarmicu* (L.), is in the British 

 Isles now only found in the Broad district of Norfolk, although formerly, before the 

 drainage of the fens, it had a more extensive range, and is said to have been resident 

 in Devon, the lower Thames valley, Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, and the Fen district. 

 On the Continent it is also found locally in East Spain, France, Italy, and Sicily, 

 the Low Countries, and formerly in Germany ; while from Hungary eastward it is 

 replaced by the Eastern race. Although resident with us and in the Mediterranean 

 region, it is only a summer migrant to Holland, probably wintering in the south of 

 France. [F. c. B. J.] 



3. Migration. A resident and stationary species. Examples have been re- 

 corded from time to time from various parts of the midland and south of England, but 

 as a rule the birds remain in the neighbourhood of their nesting haunts. | A. i.. T. ] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Usually placed close to the outer edge of a reed bed 

 or among coarse vegetation on swampy ground. Most nests are among the stems 

 of reed-mace and sedge or reeds, and not more than a foot above the water-level. 

 It is by no means an easy nest to find, except on a perfectly still day, when the 

 movements of the birds can be followed by the swaying of the reeds. The nest 

 is compactly built of dead leaves of reeds, sedges, and occasionally grasses, lined 

 with the flowering heads of the reed and not infrequently a few feathers, and is 

 constructed by both sexes, the cock providing most of the material (PI. xxvn.) 

 The eggs are generally 5 to 7, rarely as many as 9, in number, white in ground 

 colour, sparsely scribbled over with fine streaks, scrawls, or spots of liver-brown. 

 (PI. D.) Average size of 106 English eggs, -67 x -54 in. [17*2 x 13*9 mm.]. The 

 eggs are generally laid about the third week of April, occasionally as early as the 

 beginning of the month, but young have been found in the nest up to September. 

 Incubation, which is performed by both sexes, lasts about 13-14 days. Three and 

 possibly even four broods may be reared in a season. [F. c. R. J.] 



5. Food. Insects and their larvae, small molluscs, and probably seeds of 

 the reed-mace. The young are fed by both parents on insect* and their larvae. 



[K. L. T.] 



6. Song Period. The species has no song proper. [ E. i_ T.] 



