160 Commander H. Lynes on a 



In Sardinia in May, where botli this and the Dartfoi'd 

 Warbler were breeding alongside one another, a quarrel 

 between a male Dartford and a female Marmora shewed how 

 readily recognisable the latter is, if only seen in silhouette, 

 by its much shorter and stiffer tail. 



On 3rd and 5th May a number of Marmora's Warblers 

 were seen, some paired, one carrying a caterpillar (presumably 

 to young) ; and a nest with three slightly incubated eggs was 

 found, from which the female was flushed and shot, attention 

 having been first drawn to the locality by the excited alarm- 

 note of the male. This nest was like that of a Sardinian 

 Warbler, but with a deeper and rather smaller cup ; it was a 

 fairly compact structure of dry grasses, bent pieces of dry 

 thistle, and plant "fluff," lined with finer pieces of the last- 

 named material, the cup neat, the rim and outside rather 

 straggling. It was placed, about fifteen inches from the 

 ground, in a purple-flowering wild vinegar (" Canqueso,'* 

 Spanish) entwined with a dead cistus plant, and was visible 

 to anyone walking about without moving any part of the 

 bush. The nature of the vegetation was loose, not dense, 

 cistus — Spanish gorseand aromatic plants such as are found 

 all over the Mediterranean, from two to three feet high only. 



The eggs were of the same type as those of the average 

 Sardinian Warbler's, but a little smaller and more ruddy 

 umber-coloured than those of that species. 



PrINIA gracilis DELT.li RcllW. 



j\let with in Egypt only, where it is an abundant resident, 

 nesting in the tamarisks and reeds in the marshes. Eggs 

 are laid at least as early as April, and on 25th August a nest 

 with tbree slightly incubated eggs was found. There did not 

 appear to be the least seasonal movement. The late breed- 

 ing doubtless accounts for tlie irregularity of the moult 

 of this species, an adult female, obtained on December 23rd, 

 having three of the tail-feathers old, and the remainder just 

 sprouting. Another, shot on November 4th, has both the 

 tail and wings moulting ; while other moulting individuals 

 were observed in that month and at the end of September. ' 



