588 



in July all the eggs were either empty or contained young. I possess but one egg, for which I 

 am indebted to Mr. W. E. Brooks, which resembles those of Acrocephalus arundinaceus ; but 

 Mr. Hume, who has examined a large series, describes them as follows: — "The eggs of this 

 species, as might have been expected, greatly resemble those of A. arundinaceus. In shape they 

 are moderately elongated oval, in some cases almost absolutely perfect, but generally slightly 

 compressed towards one end. The shell, though fine, is entirely devoid of gloss. The ground- 

 colour varies much ; but the two commonest types are pale green or greenish white, and a pale 

 somewhat creamy stone-colour ; occasionally the ground-colour has a bluish tinge. The markings 

 vary even more than the ground-colour. In one type the ground is everywhere minutely, but 

 not densely, stippled with minute specks, too minute for one to be able to say of what colour ; 

 over this there are pretty thickly scattered fairly bold and well-marked spots and blotches of 

 greyish black, inky purple, olive-brown, yellowish olive and reddish umber-brown ; here and 

 there pale inky clouds underlie the more distinct markings. In other eggs the stippling is 

 altogether wanting, and the markings are smaller and less well defined. In some eggs one or 

 more of the colours predominate greatly; and in some several are almost entirely wanting. In 

 most eggs the markings are densest towards the larger end, where they sometimes form more or 

 less of a mottled, irregular, ill-defined cap. In length the eggs vary from 0-8 to 0'97, and in 

 breadth from - -38 to OG3; but the average of the only nine eggs that I measured was nearly 

 - 89 by rather more than - Gl inch." 



The song of this bird is much louder and differs not a little from that of Acrocephalus 

 arundinaceus. Mr. W. E. Brooks writes to me, " its call- or alarm-note is a loud tchak often 

 repeated ; and its song is a loud, chattering, discordant sound. It is exceedingly energetic, and 

 it often sounds as if the bird were choking itself. The Sedge-Warbler's song will give an 

 idea of its quality ; but it is immensely louder, and interspersed with numerous guttural choking 

 sounds. As the boat nears the bird it stops its song. It sings in the plains of India in the 

 autumn ; but its song is then not so protracted. I have shot this bird among the orange- and 

 citron-trees in my garden at Etawah ; but during the time of its northern migration it is, as a 

 rule, only found in very watery localities." Mr. Legge says that " the song of this Warbler is 

 the usual harsh warble of the family, beginning with measured notes and breaking into varia- 

 tions ; it has also a ' chet' and a ' churr ' note when threading its way through the reeds." 



As this bird resembles Acrocephalus arundinaceus so closely in general appearance, and it is 

 difficult to give the distinguishing characters on a Plate, I have deemed it advisable not to figure 

 it. The different arrangement of the primaries, the smaller size, and the long bill will at once 

 serve to distinguish it better than could be done by a comparison of a coloured Plate of the 

 two species. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 



a, s. Shiraz, Persia, September 1870 {W. T. Blanford). b, 6 , c, ? . Etawah, N.W. Provinces, India, March 

 25th, 1870 {IV. E. Brooks). 



