





























260 BRITISH BIRDS.  [VOu: XE 
of the legs. They were a dirty white, with a greenish yellow 
tinge at the “ knees” (tibio tarsal! joints), and yellow soles 
to the feet. There was no rufous anywhere about the bird ; 
its rump was a little lighter and the crown a bit darker 
than the back, it. had a broad but short cream eye-stripe, 
.and there was a fine flush of yellow on the flanks. 
The bird was subsequently shown to Mr. Ogilvie Grant 
and Mr. Groénvold at the British Museum, and they both 
expressed themselves quite satisfied with the identification. 
The Marsh-Warbler has only once before been recorded as 
breeding in Sussex, but, should it return to breed in this 
locality, it will in future receive adequate protection. 
K. C, ARNOLD. 
[Our thanks are due to Mr. Arnold for contributing the 
coloured plate of the Marsh-Warbler, reproduced from his 
water-colour sketch, and illustrating the characteristics of 
the species —EDs. | 
On June Ist, 1917, I heard and identified a Marsh-Warbler 
(Acrocephalus palustris) in the Avon Valley near Warwick. 
There can be no doubt that I had also heard it on May 24th, 
but the song was almost drowned among those of Sedge- and 
Reed-Warblers and Whitethroats in an extensive osier bed, 
and I had no time to identify the songster. On June 4th I 
revisited the place, and watched a pair. On the 8th two 
birds were singing, and these two I heard subsequently 
during the month. By July 5th both had stopped singing. 
I saw one bird as late as July 31st, so I quite expect both 
pairs were nesting; but unfortunately my efforts to find a 
nest were fruitless. The tangle became extremely dense by 
the middle of June, so that it was almost impossible to see — 
any birds moving through the osiers, and quite impossible 
to avoid disturbing them when I wanted to approach their 
haunts. I was never able to give more than about an hour to 
the search, and the early cessation of the song was a further 
difficulty. So the only nests I happened to discover were one 
of Reed-Warbler and two of Whitethroats. 
This is, as far as I can discover, the first record of Marsh- 
Warblers in Warwickshire for over forty years, and possibly 
the most northerly record of summer residence in this country, 
with the exception of the Staffordshire record by Mr. Davies 
(British Birds, X, p. 118). It is not, however, a surprising 
extension of the breeding-range of the species, as its British 
headquarters appear to be in the counties immediately to the 
south, and largely in the same water-shed. 
H. G, ALEXANDER 
