586 



2 



Canon Tristram says (Ibis, 1867, p. 78) that he met with, but did not obtain, a Warbler on 

 Lake Huleh, in Palestine, which, judging from its song, he is sure must have been the present 

 species ; but I do not find it recorded from any other locality within the limits of the Western 

 Palaearctic Region, except in North-east Africa, whence it was first described by Hemprich and 

 Ehrenberg, who also obtained it in Arabia ; and subsequent travellers have also met with it in 

 Egypt; but it appears to have been overlooked by most of the earlier explorers until Mr. S. 

 Stafford Allen remarked (Ibis, 1864, p. 97) on its presence near Damietta in a short notice, to 

 which was appended an excellent plate by Mr. Wolf. 



All the recent authors who have written on the ornithology of Egypt appear to have met 

 with this species. Captain Shelley writes (B. of Egypt, p. 95) as follows : — " This large Warbler 

 is probably a resident in Egypt ; for it certainly breeds there, and I have met with a specimen in 

 the Fayoom as early as the 7th of March. Towards the latter end of that month I frequently 

 saw it near Damietta, while hunting for C. melanopogon in the forests of thick sedge and reeds 

 which surrounded some of the lakes. It generally keeps low down in the sedge, but will occa- 

 sionally rise to the top of a tall reed to survey the district. Its plain colouring renders it very 

 difficult to detect ; but one is frequently made aware of its presence, either by its call, which in 

 March consists of a single peculiarly loud note repeated two or three times without variation, 

 or from the movements of the sedge caused by its continual motion. In April it begins its love- 

 song, and may then be much more easily procured. Although it frequents the thick sedge, it 

 appears to prefer the proximity of some slight opening, such as is made by a ditch running 

 through the swamp, in the centre of which the reeds do not grow. In such spots it may be 

 watched with ease as it hops from reed to reed, keeping generally within a foot from the surface 

 of the water, busily intent upon capturing the small aquatic insects and shells on which it 

 subsists, and perfectly heedless of observation." 



Von Heuglin says that he believes it to be a resident in Egypt. He met with it in the 

 winter, in company with A. arundinaceus, in the dense reed-thickets at the mouth of the Nile, 

 in May near Suez, from June to September breeding along the Samahr coast, and he believes he 

 saw it in October in a bay between Ghubet-Harab and Sela, on the Somali coast. On the Red 

 Sea it frequents the shores where the water is shallow, and the low islands which are covered 

 with Avicennia trees and bushes ; and he (Von Heuglin) also saw it amongst the reeds in the 

 lagoons, and on Rhizopliora. In many respects, he writes, " these Avicennia? represent our marsh- 

 osiers ; they grow close to the edge of the water, often form dense thickets, and are green all 

 the year round. These marsh-thickets resound during the summer with the loud ringing song 

 of this Warbler, which is fuller and more varied than the song of its western ally. Its call-note 

 consists of an often-repeated harsh call and a sort of snore (Schmatzen und Schnalzen) ; and in 

 its general habits it resembles the other aquatic Warblers, being, except during the hottest time 

 of the day, always active and in motion. It is shy in its mode of life, knows well how to keep 

 concealed, and not unfrequently sings perched on an open spray, but never on the wing. Each 

 pair seems to take possession of a tolerably extensive district. We found a very neat nest on 

 the 18th June 1861, on the island of Schech Said, near Massowah, which contained three fresh 

 eggs, and was placed in the fork of a shady Avicermia-bush, the roots of which were washed by 

 the water at high tide, at an altitude of nearly six feet above the ground. This nest was purse- 



