THE REED- WARBLERS. 227 



from the latter, and more rarely on the ground itself, concealed 

 among the herbage. It is an artless structure, somewhat 

 shallow, composed of dry grass-stems, pieces of dead water- 

 plants, with a little hair for the lining, and some scraps of 

 vegetable down. Mr. Robert Read draws our attention to the 

 fact that there is nearly always a feather, and sometimes two, 

 left projecting over the eggs in the nest, and serving to hide the 

 latter from view. This is especially the case when the nest is 

 built low down in a damp situation. The nest is often found 

 at a considerable distance from any water, sometimes a quarter 

 of a mile away. 



Eggs. From four to six in number, and very uniform in ap- 

 pearance. The ground-colour is greenish-white, but this is 

 seldom to be seen, owing to the uniform clouding of the eggs, 

 which vary from olive to brown or stone-grey. The mottlings, 

 when present, are yellowish-brown or dark brown, occasionally 

 reddish-brown, and there is generally a hair-like line of black 

 at the larger end, these pencilled lines being more characteris- 

 tic of the uniform clutches than of the mottled ones. Axis, 

 o - 7-o'8 inch; diam., o'5-o'55. Mr. Robert Read informs us 

 that he has taken eggs of this bird, near Glasgow, of a beauti- 

 ful salmon-pink colour. 



III. THE GREAT REED WARBLER. ACROCEPHALUS TURDOIDES. 



Turdus arundinaceus y Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 296 (1766). 

 Acroccphalus arundinaceus (L.), Newt. ed. Yarr., i., p. 364 



(1873) ; Dresser, B. Eur., ii., p. 379, pi. 88 (1878). 

 Acrocephalus turdoidcs (Meyer), Seeb., Cat. B. Brit. Mus., v. 



p. 95 (iSSi); id. Br. B., i., p. 361 (1883); B. O. U. List 



Br. B., p. 19 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B., pt. ii. 



(1886) ; Saunders, Man., p. 75 (1889). 



Adult Male. General colour above, brown, rather more dingy 

 on the head, and a little more rufescent on the lower back and 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts ; wing-coverts like the back, the 

 bastard-wing darker brown and contrasting with the rest of the 

 coverts ; primary-coverts and quills dark brown, edged with 

 rufescent-brown ; tail-feathers lighter brown, with whitish 

 fringes at the ends, and margined with reddish-brown ; lores, 

 sides of face, and ear-coverts ashy-brown, dusky in front of the 



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