234 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



in Europe almost exactly the same range as its congener, the 

 Reed- Warbler, and breeds everywhere south of Denmark and 

 the Baltic Provinces, but is a somewhat less western bird in its 

 distribution, as there are parts of Western France whence the 

 bird is not recorded, and no examples have yet been identified 

 from the Spanish peninsula. Its eastward range is given by 

 Dr. Pleske as reaching to the Ural Mountains and to the govern- 

 ment of Ekaterinburg. Mr. Seebohm considers that it ranges 

 further to Turkestan and Persia, but more information and a 

 larger series of specimens are needed for the correct definition 

 of the range of this species. It is said to winter in N.E. Africa 

 as far as the Equatorial Provinces, and it reaches Natal on its 

 winter journey. With regard to the occurrence of the species 

 in Africa, we have re-examined the specimen shot by Captain 

 Shelley in Natal, and there is little question that we have 

 rightly identified the species. 



Habits. Arrives in its nesting quarters about the middle of 

 May, and departs at the end of August. The bird is said to 

 be much more restless than the Reed-Warbler, sitting in the 

 open and singing, and taking long flights from tree to tree. Its 

 song is superior to that of the allied species, and much more 

 melodious, being, according to Mr. Seebohm, almost as rich as 

 that of the Nightingale, and decidedly more varied, though not 

 so loud. Sometimes, he adds, we might imagine that we were 

 listening to the song of a Reed- Warbler with an unusually rich 

 voice ; but more often the melody recalls the song of the 

 Swallow, the Lark, or that of the Tree-Warblers; while we 

 might also come to the conclusion that the singer had had 

 lessons from a Nightingale or a Bluethroat. 



Nest. According to Naumann, the nest is never placed over 

 water, but always on more or less firm ground, so that it can 

 always be reached by the hand, if the situation chosen be by the 

 side of a stream. The nest is often placed at some little distance 

 from the water in low bushes overgrown with reeds, or in nettles 

 and other water-plants. If the Reed- Warbler is found in the 

 same neighbourhood, as is often the case, the nests of the two 

 species are differently situated, the Marsh-Warbler's being in 

 the herbage near the water, the Reed-Warbler's in the reeds 

 over the water. The nest is composed of round grass-stalks 



