ACROCEPHALUS 123 



-r 



latter is shorter and scarcely so rich or varied. It breeds in 

 May, and its nest, which resembles that of the Sedge-Warbler 

 but is smaller, is constructed of plant-stems and bents, and a 

 few rootlets, worked together with insect-webs and intermixed 

 with plant-cotton, and lined with horsehair. The eggs 4 or 5 

 in number resemble those of the Sedge-Warbler, but are 

 smaller and the ground colour is paler and yellower ; they vary 

 not a little, both in colouration and markings. 



175. SEDGE- WARBLEK. 

 ACROCEPHALUS SCHCENOB^NUS. 



Acrocephalus schce-nolcenus, (Linn.) Syst. Nat. i. p. 329 (1766) ; Newton, 

 i. p. 376 ; Dresser, ii. p. 597, pi. 90, fig. 2 ; A. phragmitis 

 (Naumann), iii. p. 648, Taf. 82, fig. 1 ; (Hewitson), i. p. 117. pi. xxi. 

 fig. 3 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. Mtis. v. p. 91 ; Saunders, p. 85 ; 

 Lilford, iii. p. 40, pi. 20. 



Bee/in phragmite, French ; Euisinor sylvestre, Span. ; 

 paglie, Ital. Schilf-Rohrsdnger, German; Rietsanger, Dutch; 

 Sivsanger, Dan. ; and Norweg. ; Safsdngare, Swed. ; Kaislakerttu y 

 Finn. ; Kisilovka, Russ. ; Hokitnicza, Polish. 



( ad. (Asia Minor). Crown blackish brown, streaked with tawny 

 brown ; supercilium yellowish white ; upper parts dull reddish brown 

 clouded with dark brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts rufescent tawny ; 

 quills and tail dark brown with lighter margins ; chin, throat, and middle 

 of abdomen whiter ; rest of underparts pale buff ; the flanks and under 

 tail-coverts washed with rufous ; bill dark brown, base of lower mandible 

 yellow ; legs pale brown ; iris brown. Culmen 0'55, wing 2*65, tail 2'1, 

 tarsus 0'82 inch ; first primary small and narrow, shorter than the coverts, 

 second rather longer than the 4th, third longest. In the winter the 

 supercilium and underparts are more tinged with buff. 



Bab. Europe and Asia ; as far northward to Finmark, eastward 

 to the Yenesei, Turkestan, and the Altai, west to Spain, along 

 the Mediterranean Basin, Palestine, and the Crimea ; winter- 

 ing in Africa as far south as the Transvaal. In Great Britain 

 in summer, up to the Isle of Skye, and Ireland. 



Frequents dense thickets of aquatic plants, sedge, and 

 reed-patches, and bushes skirting water, is restless, active, and 

 lively in its movements ; its flight is irregular and feeble and 

 it seldom shows itself in open places. It feeds on aquatic 

 insects, and in the autumn to some extent on berries. Its call- 

 note, which is frequently uttered, to some extent resembles that 

 of the Whitethroat; and its song though hurried is pleasant 



