LOCUSTELLA. 351 



355). Aedon fainiliaris. The Grey-lacked \Va.-ller. 



Sylvia fainiliaris, Jfenttr. Cat. Ruts. Cam. p. 32 (1832) : Seebohm. 



Cat. B. M. v, p. :',<>. 

 Aedon fainiliaris (Men6tr.\ Butler Sf Hume, S. F. iii, p. 476 ; Blanf. 



8. F. v, p. 246 ; Sutler, S. F. vii, p. 183 ; Hume, Cat. no. 492 ter ; 



Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 205. 



Coloration. Upper plumage fulvous-brown, the sides of the crown 

 more or less dusky ; lower rump and upper tail-coverts chestnut- 

 brown ; middle pair of tail-feathers various sometimes chestnut 

 with the basal half of the inner web and the tip of the outer brown, 

 sometimes chestnut on the basal third of both webs and brown on 

 the remainder, in other cases the chestnut and brown vary in extent ; 

 the next two pairs chestnut, with a large subterminal black patch ; 

 the remainder the same but with broad white tips in addition ; 

 wings brown, edged with pale sandy brown ; lores and a patch 

 behind the eye blackish ; a distinct buffish-white supercilium from 

 the nostril to the nape ; a similar band under the eye followed 

 below by a dusky streak ; the whole lower plumage very pale 

 vinaceous. 



Legs and feet dusky fleshy ; bill horny above, pale below ; iris 

 dark brown (Hume). 



Length about 7 ; tail 2'7 ; wing 3'4 ; tarsus 1 ; bill from gape '85. 



Distribution. A winter visitor to the dry parts of the north-west 

 of India, where this species has been procured at Karachi and 

 Kotri in August, at Jodhpore in September, and at Deesa in August, 

 September, and October. It will probably be found in the Punjab. 

 It passes the summer in Persia, Afghanistan, and Turkestan, and 

 probably many of the birds do not migrate at all from these 

 countries. It extends into Europe. 



Genus LOCUSTELLA, Kaup, 1829. 



The genus Locustella is represented in India by three species of 

 somewhat similar appearance and size and of plain colours. They 

 are found in reed-bedg, swamps, and wet cover of all sorts, and 

 they occur in India only in the winter. Their summer-quarters 

 appear to be the northern parts of Asia ; but, judging from a speci- 

 men of L. straminea being killed in Native Sikhim in June, it is 

 probable that the breeding-quarters of this species may lie in or 

 near that country. 



The G-rasshop per- Warblers, as they are called from their peculiar 

 note, are very shy and seldom expose themselves to view. They 

 are consequently little known and seldom obtained. In Burma, 

 however, after shooting one or two specimens I found it quite 

 possible to obtain a large number by walking through inundated 

 rice-fields, and I found them to be common to an extraordinary 

 degree. 



The summer and winter plumages of the adults do not differ in 

 any important particular, but the young are very yellow and 

 generally more streaked than the adults. The sexes are alike. 



