74 RUFOUS WARBLER. 
northern portions of the Peninsula; but in Southern Portugal and 
Spain it is abundant from the third week in April until the end of 
September. To the mainland of Italy it is a somewhat rare 
straggler ; but it visits Malta on its migrations to and from Northern 
Africa, where, from Morocco to Egypt, it is generally distributed 
throughout the greater part of the year. In winter it goes to 
Abyssinia, and has been found in the mountains of that country in 
May at an elevation of 3,500 feet. In April, according to Canon 
‘Tristram, it arrives in Palestine, and breeds to the south of Beyrout ; 
but north of the Lebanon we meet with a very closely-allied species, 
Aédon familiaris, which is much less rufous on the upper parts, 
and has the central pair of tail-feathers brown instead of chestnut. 
The latter breeds in Asia Minor, Persia, Turkey, Greece, the 
Caucasian district,and Turkestan ; wandering, strange to say, across 
the line of Aédon galactodes, to Italy, Nice, and even Heligoland. 
Breeding begins by the end of May; the rather bulky nest being 
often placed, without any attempt at concealment, at some distance 
from the ground, on a branch or in a fork of a tamarisk bush ; some- 
times between the roots of a tree in a bank-side ; and frequently in 
the cactus-hedges which border vineyards. Wool, hair, feathers and 
any soft materials are used for the lining, amongst which a piece of 
snake’s-skin is generally to be found. The eggs, usually 5 in 
number, are pale grey, streaked and blotched with ash-brown and 
dull violet, much resembling those of the Tawny Pipit: measure- 
ments ‘88 in. by *63 in. In its habits this bird is lively and restless, 
constantly flirting its expanded tail; whence its Spanish names of 
‘ Alza-cola,’ and ‘ Alza-rabo.’ I have not found it to be at all shy, 
until it becomes conscious of being watched and followed: a pro- 
ceeding which it naturally resents, as do most birds. The original 
English name of Rufous Sedge Warbler is remarkably inappropriate, 
as the bird is never seen in sedges, and is rather partial to arid 
places. Its food consists of insects. The song resembles that of 
the Redbreast, delivered in Thrush-like jerks (Aplin). 
Adult male: upper parts chestnut-brown ; a broad whitish streak 
above the eye to the nape; quills brown with reddish-buff margins ; 
tail rich chestnut with a narrow blackish terminal band on the two 
central feathers, and a broad sub-terminal black band with increasingly 
large white tips from the centre to the outer feathers; under parts 
sandy-white, more tawny on the breast and flanks ; bill, legs and 
feet brown. Length 6°5 in.; wing to the end of the 3rd and longest 
quill 3°5 in. The female is slightly, if at all, smaller and paler than. 
the male. 
