116 ACROCEPHALUX 



$ ad (Ural). Upper parts pale warm rufous brown, darker on the 

 head and brighter on the rump ; wings and tail with fulvous brown 

 margins ; a light superciliary streak ; under parts white, flanks and lower 

 abdomen washed with buff ; bill above dark brown, below fleshy yellow ; 

 legs pinkish brown ; iris yellow, eyelids plumbeous. Culmen 0'45, wing 

 2'2, tail 2'4, tarsus 0'9 inch ; wings short and rounded ; first primary 

 narrow, about 0*15 longer than the coverts, second intermediate between 

 6th and 7th, third and 4th equal and longest ; tail much rounded. The 

 female does not differ, but the young bird has the upper parts brighter and 

 the under parts washed with ochreous buff. 



Hal). The western Ural, the Crimea, Transcaspia, the Altai, 

 Turkestan, the Himalayas from Kashmir to Nepal, wintering 

 in the plains of India. 



It frequents damp localities, reed-beds, the borders of small 

 rivers and streams, gardens, and grassy places, but I find no 

 description of its call-note or song. It breeds in damp 

 localities and builds a cup-shaped nest, resembling that of 

 A. arundinaceus, attached to reeds, and lined with fine plant- 

 strips. The eggs resemble those of A. streperus but are smaller, 

 averaging 0'68 by 0'53, and are paler in ground colour. 



167. BLYTH'S REED -WARBLER. 



ACROCEPHALUS DUMETORUM. 



Acrocephalus dumetorum, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xviii. p. 815 (1849) ; 

 Dresser, ii. p. 561, pi. 86, fig. 2 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. Mus. v. p. 

 104 ; (Gates), F. Brit. Ind. Birds, i. p. 359 ; Pleske, Orn. Ross. ii. p. 

 532. A. magnirostris (Liljeb,) Ofv. K. Yet. Ak. Forh. 1850, p. 274, 

 pi. xix. 



Podena, Hind. ; Tik-tikki, of the Mussulmans ; Tikra, Beng. ; 

 Sadovaya-MoJinofka. Russ. ; Viitakerttu, Finn. 



ad. (Ural). Upper parts dull light olivaceous brown ; the rump 

 more olivaceous, the sides of the head tinged with grey ; wings and tail 

 dark brown margined with olivaceous brown ; a dull white superciliary 

 stripe ; under parts white, tinged with yellowish buff on the breast, flanks and 

 crissum ; bill brown above, fleshy below ; legs reddish brown ; iris yellow- 

 brown. Culmen 0'6, wing 2'5, tail 2'2, tarsus 0'9 inch ; first priniary 

 narrow, equal in length to the coverts, second 0'2 shorter than the 3rd, 

 and about equal to the 7th ; 3rd and 4th nearly equal and longest, sexes 

 alike. In the winter the underparts are washed with clear buff. 



Hob. Russia, from the Government of St. Petersburg east to 

 the valley of the Yenesei, ?nd from Archangel to Orenburg: 



