230 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



THE REED-WARBLER. ACROCEPHALUS STRFPERUS. 



(Plate XXL, Fig. 2.) 

 Sylvia strepera, Vieill, N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., xi., p. 182 



(1817). 



Calamoherpe arundinacea, Macg., Br. B., ii., p. 395 (1839). 

 Acrocephalus strepcrus, Newt. ed. Yarr., i., p. 369 (1873); 



Dresser, B. Eur., ii., p. 567, pi. 87 (1877) ; Seeb., Cat. B. 



Brit. Mus., v., p. 102 (1881) ; B. O. U. List Br. B., p. 18 



(1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig., Br. B., pt. iii. (1886) ; Saunders, 



Man., p. 71 (1889). 

 Acrocephalus arundinaceus, Seeb., Br. B., i., p. 367 (1883). 



Adult Male. General colour rufescent olive-brown, the lower 

 back, rump, and upper tail-coverts showing a slight inclination 

 to ruddiness in the tint of the brown ; wing-coverts like the 

 back, the bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quills dusky brown, 

 edged with the same colour as the back ; tail-feathers 

 brown, edged with lighter brown, and having a faint indication 

 of a pale fringe at the tips ; crown slightly more dingy than the 

 back, but like the mantle, lores, and ear-coverts dusky brown, 

 with a faint streak of whitish above the eye ; cheeks, throat, 

 and under-parts white, with a fulvescent tinge on the breast and 

 Sides of the body, the flanks browner ; under tail-coverts white, 

 with a slight fulvous tinge, as also the under wing-coverts, 

 axilla ries, and quill-lining ; bill dark brown above, the under 

 mandible paler; feet and claws purplish-brown; iris brown. 

 Total length, 5*1 inches; culmen, o'6 ; wing, 2^5; tail, 2'o; 

 tarsus, o'9. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male in colour. Total length, 

 5-4 inches; wing, 2*5. 



Young. More dingy and reddish-brown than the adults ; the 

 under surface of the body fulvescent, and inclining to tawny- 

 buff on the flanks ; the throat dingy fulvous ; and the abdo- 

 men ashy white. 



Kange in Great Britain. Generally distributed over the 

 southern and midland counties, becoming somewhat rarer 

 in the south-west, but fairly common in Wales. To the 

 north it becomes gradually rarer and more local, and authen- 

 tic records from Scotland and Ireland are wanting. 



