420 BRITISH BIRDS. 



prevent the snakes from sucking the eggs. The nest is usually placed not 

 very far from the ground, in the rough hedges which surround the vine- 

 yards and cherry-orchards. The nest is larger than that of most Warblers, 

 somewhat more bulky, and scarcely so deep. It is composed of roots, 

 straws, dry grass, bits of matting, lichen, &c., and is lined with wool, thistle- 

 down, a feather or two, or almost any soft material. 



Writing of this species in Palestine, Canon Tristram states that it returns 

 to its old haunts by the middle of April, and spreads itself over every part 

 of the country where there are bushes and reeds. He writes (Ibis, 1867, 

 p. 80) : — " In no way whatever does it resemble the Marsh- Warblers in 

 action or note. Its song is low, soft, and mellifluous. It is constantly 

 seen, and, instead of skulking in thickets, hops here and there, perching 

 on the outmost bough of any bush or on the stem of a tall cane, expanding 

 and jerking its tail like a Wren." He also informs us that its nest is very 

 easy to find, the bird making no more attempt to conceal it than the Missel- 

 thrush. In his last journey to Palestine Canon Tristram met with this 

 bird in great abundance : and his observations are specially interesting ; for 

 they relate to a great extent to the geographical distribution of the eastern 

 and the western forms of this Warbler. In 'The Ibis' for 1882 (p. 409) 

 he informs us that " after the last week in April it is to be seen everywhere, 

 on upland and lowland alike, expanding, jerking, and fanning its tail, with 

 its conspicuous white bar, on the bare fig-trees, among olives, on the top 

 of any little shrub, or on the pathway in front of the horseman, hopping 

 feax'Iessly on at his close approach. No specimen of its ally {S. familiaris) 

 have I ever noticed among the thousands I have seen, though I was keenly 

 on the look-out for it. But when, after leaving Beyrout, I followed the 

 coast-line northwards, so soon as we had passed the headlands of Lebanon 

 and entered the rich plains of Tripolis, not a solitary Si. galactodes was 

 ever seen, while S. familiaris was as abundant everywhere as its congener 

 had been in the south. . . . North and east we have the one species ; south 

 and west, as far as Algeria, Spain, and Morocco, we find the other.'^ 



Dixon, when in Algeria, made the following notes respecting the habits 

 of this bird : — " Although the Rufous Warbler was a bird of which I was 

 particularly anxious to make the acquaintance ; for I was curious to know 

 whether it was the present species or the nearly allied Sylvia familiaris of 

 the East that occurred in Algeria, it was not until we reached the oasis of 

 Biskra that I met with it. Biskra is the second oasis, and is situated on 

 the borders of the Great Desert — a charming place, almost all date-palm 

 forests and barley-fields. I sought eagerly for my then to me unknown 

 bird in the few places I thought best adapted to a Warbler's require- 

 ments — in the fast drying-up bed of the Oued Biskra, in the tangled mass 

 of tall cane-brake and thorns by the side of the artificial canals made for 

 purposes of irrigation — but in vain. The delicate little Tree-Warbler 



