GREAT REED-WARBLER. 361 



ACROCEPHALUS TURDOIDES*. 



GREAT REED-WARBLER. 



(Plate 10.) 



Turdus arundinacua, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 219, pi. xxii. fig. 1 (1760) ; Linn. Sysl. Nat. 

 i. p. L"J6 (_1766). 



Acrocephalus lacustris, Natim. Nutiir. Land- u. Wuss.- Vdff. nordl. Deutschl. Kachtr. 

 iv. p. 201 (Ifill). 



Sylvia turdoides, Meyev, Voy. Lie- u. Esthl. p. 116 (1815) ; et auctorum plurimo- 

 rum — Temminck {Boie), Nauinann {Kaup ), Menltries, (Brehra), ( Lesson), ( Gould), 

 (BonajMi-te), Crespon, {Keyserliny i^- Blasius), Nordmann, Werner, Kjcerhdlliny, 

 Sundevall, (Jaubert ^ Barthelemy-Lapommeraye), {Deyland c^' Oerbe), (Loc/ie), 

 (Heuglin), {Duderlein), (Sahadori), Fallon, (Shelley), ^-e. 



Muscipita lacustris {Naum.), Koch, Syst. baier. Zool. i. p. 166 (1816). 



Calamoherpe turdoides (Meyer), Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 552. 



Turdus junco, Pall. Zooyr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 458 (182(j). 



Hydrocopsichus turdoides (Meyer), lump, Natiirl. Syst. p. 121 (182!J). 



Arundinaceus turduides (Meyer), Less. Traite d^Orn. p. 419 (1831). 



Calamoherpe lacustris (jVattm.), Brehm, Voy. DeuHchl. p. 442 (1831). 



Calamoherpe stagnatilis, Brehm, T'dy. Deutsehl. p. 442 (1831). 



Salicaria turdoides (Meyer), Ooiild, B. Eur. ii. pi. t\i. (1837). 



Acrocephalus arundinaceus (Linn.), Gray, List Gen. B. p. 28 (1841). 



Sylvia turdina, Gloger, Handb. Natvry. p. 312 (1842). 



Salicaria turdina (Gloyer), Schley. Rev. Crit. p. xxvii (1844). 



Calamodyta arundinacea (Linn.), Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 172 (1848). 



Calamoherpe media, Malm. (Efv. J'et.-Ak. Handl. 1851, p. 159. 



Calamoherpe turdina (Gloger), Schley. Toy. Kederl. p. 142 (1854). 



Acrocephalus turdoides {Meyer), Heugl. Orn. N.O.-Afr. i. p. 289 (18G9). 



Acrocephalus arahicus, Heugl. Orn. N.O.-Afr. i. p. 289 (1869). 



Salicaria arundinacea (Linn.), Harting, Handb. Br. B. p. 14 (1872). 



Acrocephalus fulvolateralis, Sharjie, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. p. 289 (1877). 



Linnaeus placed this fine Reed- Warbler amongst his Thrushes, and thus 

 laid the foundation for much confusion in its synonymy, whilst some 

 British ornithologists have confounded it with the Eastern Nightingale, 

 a bird which really is very closely allied to the Thrushes. The only 

 satisfactorily authenticated instance of the occurrence of the Great Reed- 

 Warbler in our islands is the one recorded by Hancock in his ' Catalogue 



* It is to be hoped that British ornithologists -will support me in using the name which 

 has been applied to this species by far the greatest number of authors, and which remains 

 in universal use on the continent. It is impossible to protest too strongly against the 

 practice of transferring a name from one species to another — a practice which strikes at 

 the root of all attempts to obtain scientific accuracy and precision, and paves the way for 

 endless confusion. There can be no great harm in calling this species A. lacustris or A, 

 juncu, but under no circumstances should it be called A. arundinaceus. 



