358 SYLVIID^E. 



The dimensions are those of A. stentoreus. The bill is said to 

 be smaller and the tail shorter, but I have not found these points 

 of any use in discriminating the two birds. The second primary 

 generally equal to the fourth. 



Distribution. This Reed- Warbler occurs plentifully throughout 

 Southern Pegu, from the head of the Pegu Canal down to Ban- 

 goon, and probably throughout the whole of Tenasserim, for 

 Davison observed it at Tavoy and Malawun. It is found ' in 

 Burma, so far as my own observations extend, from the com- 

 mencement of October to the middle of May. It has occurred in 

 the Andamans. In winter it has a wide range, being found in 

 south-eastern Asia nearly as far as Australia. It summers in 

 North China, Japan, and Eastern Siberia. 



This and the preceding species, A. stentoreus, can only be dis- 

 criminated with certainty when the wings are fully grown and 

 perfect. The differences may appear very trivial, but they are 

 constant, and are associated with a different geographical distri- 

 bution. In Pegu the two birds meet ; but here A. stentoreus is 

 rare, A. orientalis extremely common. A. arundinaceus, another 

 species, has its own geographical range, being confined almost to 

 Europe and Africa. It differs from the other two in the shape of 

 the wing, the second primary in this bird being as long as the third, 

 or, in other words, reaching to the tip of the wing. 



365. Acrocephalus bistrigiceps, Schrenck's Reed- Warbler. 



Acrocephalus bistrigiceps, Sivinh. Ibis, 1860, p. 51 ; Hume fy Dai\ 

 S. F. vi, p. 338 ; Hume, Cat. no. 517 ter ; Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, 

 p. 94 ; Oates, S. F. x, p. 214 j id. B. B. i, p. 97. 



Coloration. Upper plumage russet-brown, brighter on the rump 

 and upper tail-coverts ; a distinct black streak on each side of 

 the crown of the head; below this a broad pale buff supercilium, 

 running from the base of the bill ; lores dark brown ; ear-coverts 

 hair-brown ; sides of neck like the back ; lower plumage pale buff, 

 lighter on the abdomen, and nearly white on the chin and throat ; 

 wings and tail brown, edged with russet-brown on the outer webs. 

 The lower plumage is more rufous after the autumn moult. 



Iris brown ; mouth pale yellow ; upper mandible brown, lower 

 flesh-coloured, slightly dusky at the tip ; legs plumbeous flesh- 

 colour ; soles of feet yellow ; claws horn-colour. 



Length 5-1 ; tail 2*1 ; wing 2-1 ; tarsus -8 ; bill from gape '7 ; the 

 second primary is generally intermediate in length between the 

 sixth and seventh, and sometimes equals the seventh ; the first 

 primary is large, measuring *5 inch in length. 



Distribution. Common in Southern Pegu near Kyeikpadein from 

 November to April in paddy-fields and grass-jungle. This bird 

 has also been found at Tavoy. 



The summer-quarters of this bird appear to be Japan and Eastern 

 Siberia. 



