56 



ACROCEPHALUS DUMETORUM. 



(BLYTH'S REED-WARBLER.) 



Sylvia montana, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 89 (nee Horsf.). 



Acrocephalus montanus, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xiv. p. 594 (1845, nee Horsf.). 



Sylvia arunclinacea, Eversm. Add. Pall. Zoogr. Rosso- Asiat. fasc. iii. p. 11 (1842, nee auctt.). 



Acrocephalus dumetorum, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xviii. p. 815 (1849). 



Sylvia (Salicaria) magnirostris, Lilljeb. Of v. K. Vet. Ak. Handl. 1850, p. 274, pi. xix. 



Calamoherpe magnirostris (Lilljeb.), Meves, Ofv. K. Vet. Ak. Forh. 1871, p. 752. 



Salicaria palustrisl Severtzoff, Turk. Jevotnie, pp. 66 & 127(1873). 



Calamodyta dumetorum (Blyth), Meves, J. fur Orn. 1875, p. 431. 



Ad. corpore supra sordide et pallide olivaceo-fusco nee rufescente ut in Acrocephah agricolo, uropygio magis 

 olivaceo : alis et cauda, saturate fuscis, pallide olivaceo-fusco marginatis : capitis lateribus pallide 

 olivaceo-fuscis vix griseo tinctis, stria superciliari sordide alba : corpore subths albo, pectore, hypo- 

 chondriis et crisso vix fiavido-cervino tinctis : rostro brunneo, niandibula flavicante : hide fusca : 

 pedibus pallide fuscis. 



Adult Male in summer (S.E. Ural, 6th July). Entire upper parts dull light olivaceous brown, not rufous 

 brown as in Acrocephalus agricolus ; rump rather more olivaceous in tinge than the rest of the upper 

 parts ; wings and tail dark brown, margined with pale olivaceous brown ; sides of the head pale 

 olivaceous brown with a greyish tinge; a dull white streak passes from the nostril above the eye; 

 underparts white, tinged with yellowish buff on the breast, flanks, and crissum; bill brown above, 

 yellowish below; iris brown; legs pale brown. Total length about 5 - 5 inches, culmen - 6, gape 072, 

 wing 2 - 4, tail 2 - 2, tarsus 09; wing rounded, the secondaries about 0"4- shorter than the longest 

 primary, first primary narrow and small, about equal in length to the coverts ; second quill 0"2 shorter 

 than the third, and about equal to the seventh, the third and fourth the longest, being nearly equal ; 

 tail moderately rounded. 



Adult in spring (India). Differs from the bird above described in being darker and brighter-coloured above, 

 and in having the underparts tinged with yellowish buff. 



It is only, comparatively speaking, quite lately that this well-known Indian species has been 

 ascertained to inhabit Europe; for until Mr. Blanford and myself, when in Berlin in 1873, 

 compared examples from Russia and India, and ascertained that Salicaria magnirostris of 

 Lilljeborg is specifically identical with the present species, it was supposed that the bird 

 described by Lilljeborg was really distinct. It was first discovered in Northern Russia, close 

 to Konewskaja, not very far from Kargopol, by Professor Lilljeborg in the summer of 1848 ; 

 but as this gentleman did not publish his description previous to 1850, Blyth's name takes 

 precedence. 



Professor Lilljeborg only obtained one example on the above-mentioned occasion, from which 



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