20 MOUSTAOHED WARBLER. 



has been mentioned by M. Cantraine, who collected specimens for 

 Temminck in Italy, and who remarks that it always lives in the 

 swamps, and in the bushes which surround them. It climbs along 

 the reed-stems like the rest of its family, and lets its sharp singing 

 notes be heard clearly enough. Like Sylvia aquatica, it also runs 

 along the reed-stems and water-plants, above the surface of the water. 

 It is not shy, and frequently sits on the tops of the reeds. Those 

 which M. Cantraine killed in the winter were all males. 



Salvadori, "Fauna d'ltalia," writes of this bird: — "I believe that 

 this species is stationary in certain localities in Italy, where it is 

 rather frequently seen. I have found it all through the winter in 

 Pisa, where it is rather common, and probably nests there. Cantraine 

 has found it rather common in November, in the neighbourhood of 

 Ostia, and upon the shores of Lago de Castiglione in Romano. He 

 always found it in marshy places, and amongst the low shrubs on 

 the banks of the lake. It creeps up the stems of the rushes, sending 

 forth a rather strong cry. Then it descends on to the aquatic plants 

 swimming upon the surface of the water. It may be sometimes seen 

 perched upon the small reeds. It does not show any timidity. — 

 (Temminck.) It is rather common in Sicily, near Lentini and Mazzara. 

 It appears accidentally in Liguria (Durazzo), in Venetia (Perini), and 

 Malta (Wright). In Sardinia it has not been observed by Cara 

 Hensmann or myself. Nevertheless an individual is preserved in the 

 Turin Museum from Sardinia, and perhaps if well sought for might 

 be found to be not rare. Hitherto no one has observed the nest in 

 Italy. It is said to nest in the middle of clumps of aquatic plants. 

 The nest is cup-shaped, and the eggs, four or five in number, are of 

 a bluish white, marked with brown points, which are thicker towards 

 the obtuse end." 



Doderlein ("Faun. Sic. et Mod.") says of this bird: — "This species, 

 proper to the South of Europe, has not been till now in the Modenese 

 lists, although it is sufficiently common in the marshy plains of Italy. 

 In Sicily it is sometimes found in the 'viviere' of Lentini and in the 

 lake of Mazzara. One I killed in the fruit-trees of Mondello. The 

 Museum of Turin has one individual of this species which came 

 from Sardinia, from which Salvadori infers that it is there a spring 

 visitor." 



The Pev. Canon Tristram writes in the "Ibis" of 1870, p. 301:— 

 "I should like to mention in the 'Ibis' that I have just received 

 from my friend Mr. Brooks a pair of Sylvia melanopogen, Tern., shot 

 at Etawah, in the North-west Provinces of India, an entirely new 

 Locality for this rare Warbler, of which I never before saw but the 



