Wing from 

 carpal joint. 



Tail. 



End of wing folded 

 to end of tail. 



0.070 



0.054 



■ 0.030 



064 



0.053 



0.033 



Bill from 

 commissure. 



Middle toe and 

 claw. 



Hind toe 

 and claw. 



0.019 



0.017 



0.016 



O.018 



0.016 



0.0145 



MARSH WARBLER. 9 



and almost perfectly elliptical, with a whitish, bluish, or greyish 

 ground, with scattered spots of a dark green grey or blue. Notwith- 

 standing we must be permitted to say that the eggs of A, palustris 

 are generally clearer and furnished with larger spots than those of 



A. arunclinacea, resembling more the eggs of Sylvia turdoides A. 



palustris varies a good deal in its proportions, but it is generally 

 stronger than A. arundinacea." 



The following are the differences in dimensions given by M. Fatio 

 in millemetres : — 



Male specimens. Total length. 



A. palustris 0.140 



A. arundinacea 0.134 



Tarsus. 



A. palustris 0.023 



A. arundinacea 0.022 



"One can see from this table of measurements that the two War- 

 blers do not differ much except in the wings, in the distance which 

 separates these from the end of the tail, and above all in the 

 difference between the extremities of the secondaries and primaries. 

 This second character, which Gerbe has noticed in a paper on the 

 identity of Calamolierpe pratensis and palustris, is of great importance, 

 not only from its constancy, but for its numerical value. But characters 

 quite as striking and as important may be drawn by comparing the 

 extremities of the wing feathers. In C. palustris the first (true) remige 

 measures from seven to eight millemetres more than the fourth, and 

 the second is two millemetres longer than the third. In C. arundinacea 

 the first remige is nearly equal to the fourth, and the second is very 

 little longer than the third. The wing of palustris is more pointed, 

 and that of arundinacea is more rounded, owing to the difference in 

 the comparative length of the remiges. 



" The colours of the two species will also assist in distinguishing 



them from each other In the upper parts palustris is a greenish 



grey olive, which is lighter on the rump. The light yellowish mark 

 on the side of the head extends from the nostril to above the eye. 

 The wing is above blackish brown, and each of the primaries is 

 bordered with a light bronze. The tail is a little lighter, but of the 

 same tint as wing, and is rounder in form, in consequence of the 

 central feathers being the longest. The throat is white, tinted on the 

 sides with a light yellow. The chest is of the same colour, and 

 tinted with a very pale brown. The belly is also whitish, mixed 



VOL. III. c 



