593 



It has not been met with in Norway, Sweden, or Finland j and I find no record respecting 

 its occurrence in Kussia in the notes I have received from Mr. Sabanaeff or in the literature I 

 possess on the avifauna of that country ; but I possess examples from the South-eastern Ural, 

 which proves that the range of the present species certainly extends as far east as those 

 mountains. Kessler certainly includes it in his work on Russian ornithology, but states nothing 

 as to where it occurs. I have been told by Mr. Taczanowski that it is found in Poland ; and it 

 appears to be tolerably widely distributed in Germany. Borggreve says that it is a summer 

 visitant, being found chiefly in the western portion. Von Homeyer met with it during passage 

 on the Polish frontier. Tobias observed it in Lausitz, but chiefly during migration. Gloger states 

 that it is not rare in Silesia ; and Borggreve himself, though he never met with it in the eastern 

 districts, found it common in Miinsterland several autumns in succession. Wiepken speaks of it 

 as visiting Oldenburg regularly during summer ; and Bolsmann obtained it near Miinster at the 

 same season. It is said to visit Westphalia and Anhalt less frequently than formerly on passage ; 

 and it has been observed near Stettin frequenting the willow bushes. Kja?rbolling says that, 

 according to Mr. Mecklenburg, it breeds at Flensborg ; and Mr. E. Hage informed him that it is 

 not uncommon in Holstein, and breeds near Gliicksborg. Mr. A. Benzon, however, writes to 

 me as follows : — " Now and again this bird is found in Denmark ; but it is not easy for any one 

 but a good ornithologist to distinguish it at once from the Sedge-Warbler, and I believe that 

 many of the records respecting its occurrence here must be accepted with caution. It is, how- 

 ever, probable that it breeds not very unfrequently with us." Mr. Gatke has obtained three 

 examples on Heligoland. It is stated by Baron von Droste Hiilshoff to occur on the coast of 

 East Friesland during passage ; and he thinks it probable that it touches the island of Borkum 

 during migration. Baron De Selys-Longchamps says that it occurs, though very rarely, in 

 Flanders in summer ; and it is stated by Degland and Gerbe to occur in France, on the banks of 

 the Var and the Rhone, and in the marshes of the Crau ; as an annual migrant it occurs in the 

 departments of the Aube, Somme, and Nord. It arrives in the south in the month of April ; and 

 some remain to nest in the marshes of the Camargue. In August the return migration com- 

 mences in much greater abundance, and continues till the end of September. 



With regard to its occurrence in Spain, Mr. Howard Saunders writes to me as follows : — 

 "The statement in 'The Ibis' (1871, p. 214) that this species with nest and eggs had been sent 

 to me from the neighbourhood of Malaga arose from a printer's error. I have received a good 

 many specimens obtained in some marshes of that district, all in autumn ; but I have, as yet, no 

 proof of its nesting there, and, strange to say, no specimens have ever been sent to me from the 

 reed-beds of the lake of Albufera, near Valencia, which are regularly visited by a friend who 

 pays great attention to the Marsh-Warblers." Colonel Irby, in his notes on the ornithology of 

 the Straits of Gibraltar, says that he only once met with it in Andalucia. According to Bailly 

 it appears in Savoy early in April, and remains to breed, nesting amongst the reeds in the large 

 marshes and lakes, departing in September, when its numbers are also augmented by arrivals 

 from neighbouring districts. 



A spring visitant to Italy, which country it leaves in the autumn, it is not rare in Lombardy, 

 though not positively known to breed there ; in Piedmont and the marshes it is not very abun- 

 dant ; but in Tuscany it is common. According to Doderlein it is rare in the province of Modena, 



