I TO THE WARBLERS, 



under spray and leaf, ceaselessly and silently. For 

 they hardly make a sound, except a low tik at intervals. 

 They hold no intercourse with each other : even family 

 ties seem to be sundered for the season. I have 

 said that there are many species, but the differences 

 between them seldom amount to more than this, that 

 one is greenish-brown and another is brownish-green, 

 and another is a little yellowish on the under-parts, 

 or has a pale eyebrow, or a faint band on the wing, 

 or is half-an-inch longer or half-an-inch shorter. 

 Some few are marked more distinctly, but they be- 

 long to a side-branch of the family. Among these is 

 the English Whitethroat, which spends the winter 

 with us, and the Blackcap, a much larger bird with a 

 black cap. I believe that both these may occasionally 

 be seen in Bombay. 



Among the long reeds that grow near water about 

 the Flats there is a plain brown bird, larger than a 

 sparrow, which has an invincible objection to being 

 seen. And it would succeed without difficulty if it 

 could keep quiet ; but it feels impelled to say chuck 

 every few seconds, in a loud, emphatic tone of voice. 

 Then, when you look for it, it gets a dense bush, 

 or clump of reeds, between itself and you, and as 

 you move round the one side it moves round the 

 other and says chuck. It is a most exasperating bird. 

 I have spent hours trying to get a sight of it, with 

 little enough success, but I believe it is the Large Reed 

 Warbler (Acrocephalus stentorius), which also belongs 

 to a different branch of the great family of Warblers. 

 There is a lesser edition of the same, Acrocephalus 

 dumetorum, which may be met with in Bombay also 

 during the cold season, 



