MARSH WARBLER. 47 
MARSH WARBLER. 
AOROCEHPALUS PALUSTRIS, Bechst. 
Pl. XI, fig. 2. 
Geogr. distr.—Continental Europe in the summer; Asia as far 
east as Persia; winters in N. and perhaps S. Africa; in England it 
has occurred several times, and lately several instances of its breeding 
in this country have been recorded. 
Food.—Insects and soft fruits. 
Nest.—Formed of dry stalks and leaves of grasses, mixed with 
nettle fibre and webs, and lined with fine bents and few horsehairs, or 
moss and a quantity of horsehair. 
Position of nest.—On the edges of dense thickets near to ditches 
and moats, suspended from one to three feet from the ground in 
isolated little bushes, nettles, fig-wort, the greater willow herb, cow- 
parsnip, or in meadow-sweet. 
Number of eggs.—5-7. 
Time of ndrfication.—VII. 
The breeding of this species near Taunton, in Somerset- 
shire, was recorded by Mr. Cecil Smith in 1875, and Mr. 
Seebohm (Hist. Brit. Birds, vol. 1, p. 875) states that in 
1882 three nests were taken in the same locality, two of 
which are now in his collection; he also records the 
finding of two nests near Bath by Mr. John Young; the 
following description of the nest I quote from p. 878 of 
Mr. Seebohm’s book :— 
‘The nest perfectly resembles that of the Grasshopper 
Warbler, but is closer built, and its colour is darker and 
greyer ; it is also more smoothly finished outside. It is as 
deep as the nests of other Reed Warblers, neatly rounded, 
with the upper edge bent inwards. The materials are 
principally dry leaves and stalks of fine grass, mixed with 
grass and the fibres of nettles and other plants, and often 
with insect webs, all somewhat carefully woven together, in 
some places almost felted together. Inside it is lined with 
very fine grass and a considerable quantity of horsehair. 
“The two nests from Taunton were suspended between 
stems of the meadow-sweet.”’ 
The egg figured on my plate was lent to me by Mr. 
Seebohm. 
Though very like the Reed Warbler, Mr. Seebohm says 
that freshly-moulted birds of the Marsh Warbler can be 
distinguished from that species by the russet-brown 
instead of olive-brown colour of the rump. 
