635 



Comparatively speaking, but little is known about the habits of this bird. Dr. Jerdou says 

 (I. c.) that it " frequents long grass and grain, and is with some difficulty procured, as it always 

 tries to conceal itself among the long grass, and, when flushed, takes a very short flight, again 

 hides itself, and is with difficulty dislodged." Mr. Seebohm writes respecting its habits as 

 observed by him at Yennesaisk as follows : — " I found it a very shy, skulking bird, frequenting 

 the marshes and swampy copses on the great meadows by the river-side. The young birds, some 

 only half-fledged, were still in broods ; and occasionally I got a shot at one which ventured into 

 the willows. They were calling anxiously to each other, the note being a harsh tic, tic, tic." 

 I translate the following notes communicated by Dr. Dybowski to Mr. Taczanowski (J. f. Orn. 

 1872, p. 356): — "This is a somewhat rare bird (in Kultuk), and passes about the middle of 

 June. It frequents wet grass-covered meadows, and thickets on the edges of streams. It builds 

 in a tuft of grass close to the ground ; and the number of eggs deposited is five or six. They 

 are rosy-white in colour, closely marked with reddish-brown dots, which, though indistinct, 

 cloud the ground-colour. These dots are more numerous on one end, and form a more or less 

 distinct ring, which is sometimes 3 millims. broad, and is on some clearly distinct from the 

 ground-colour, and on others scarcely visible. Occasionally there are a few pure brown scratches 

 as on the eggs of Calamodyta phragmitis. They measure 19 by 14^, and 19J by 14 millimetres. 

 The female sits very close, and only flies off when nearly trodden on ; and this often leads to the 

 discovery of the nest. In the autumn it remains until the second half of September." 



There is in Eastern Asia another tolerably closely allied species which has been very 

 generally confused with Locustella certhiola, but which is easily recognizable by having the 

 upper parts uniform in colour and not variegated. This species, Locustella ochotensis (Midd.), 

 is found also in Kamtchatka, and replaces Locustella certhiola in Japan and the Kurile Islands. 



The specimens figured are a very old bird from Lake Baikal, in my own collection, and a 

 quite young example obtained by Mr. Seebohm at Yennesaisk, both being those above described. 

 A very good figure of the second stage of plumage, when the upper parts are richly marked as in 

 the very young bird, but the underparts are nearly as in the old bird, is given in ' The Ibis ' for 

 1876 (pi. ii. fig. 2). 



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



E Mus. II. E. Dresser, 

 a, 6 ad. Lake Baikal, southern side, June 16th, 1870 (Dr. Dyboivski). 



E Mus. Lord Tiveeddale. 



a, $ . Chefoo, May 30th, 1873 (Swlnhoe). b, 6 . South Andaman, December 29th, 1873. c, s ■ S. Andaman, 

 January Gth, 1874 (R. G. Wardlaw Ramsay). 



E Mus. II. Seebohm. 

 a,juv. Yennesaisk, August 18th, 1877 (H. S.). b,juv. Lake Baikal, August 29th, 1870. c. Lake Baikal, 



3m 



