“ The head quarters of the Rufous Sedge Warbler seem situated in tlie Salt-Lake districts, where we found 
it abundantly through the months of May and J ime. It does not appear that marshy ground is an indispensable 
requisite to its haunts ; for I observed it not unfrequently in the arid district of Guerah el Tharf. In the 
map this lake looks like a magnificent sheet of water, but is in reality what most of the places similarly laid 
down are, viz. a wide expanse of sand covered with saline incrustation, which oidy in peculiarly wet seasons 
is flooded with water. Near Ain Djendeli I frequently noticed the bird about the trees that overhung the 
dry stony watercourses running from the hills into the plain beneath. We never found a nest, however, in 
one of the above-mentioned places ; and it would seem the bird prefers a moister soil for its breeding-haunts, 
such as is afforded by the low lands near Lake Djendeli, where the Tamarisk-trees grow on the hanks of the 
Chemora and the small Ain or spring. The nest was usually placed conspicuously in the fork or on a 
branch of one of these trees, and apparently without any attempt at concealment. The heights at which it 
was placed varied from one to six feet from the ground. In one Instance I found a nest among the roots of 
a tree in a bank-side, in a place where one would have expected in England to have found the nest of a 
Robin. The materials employed are the dead shoots of the Tamarisk, which form the outside, the inside 
and lining being usually Coot’s or Duck’s feathers, mingled with wool or camel’s hair; and in nine cases out 
of ten a small piece of serpent’s skin is loosely placed in the bottom of the nest ; the eggs, which vary from 
three to five in number, are laid about the third week in May. I may here remark that they are not to he 
distinguished from those of Anthus rufescens, a bird equally or perhaps more common in the same districts 
of the Atlas ; so that eggs ascribed to this species from that country, Avithout undeniable proof that they are 
what they profess to he, can only be received with great doubt, and are, in fact, valueless to a collection. 
Among the Arabs of Djendeli this bird is known as ‘ El Hamara ’ (the Red Bird). In its habits it is shy, 
and is careful to elude observation. When it alights on a twig, it expands its tail, and shows the peculiar 
markings which terminate each feather, and while holding it thus extended raises it once or twice.” 
“The most conspicuous and attractive of all the Warblers of Palestine,” says Mr. Tristram, in ‘The Il)is’ 
for 1867, “ is Aedon galactodes ; and it is perhaps the most abundant in summer ; but it returns very late. On 
the 14th of April it appeared in great numbers, and overspread every part of the country, Avet or dry, Avhere 
there AA'ere bushes or reeds. The return Avas simultaneous ; and from that time its bright chestnut plumage, 
with its black- and white-tipped tail expanded like a fan, enlivened every thicket and thornbush. In no Avay 
whatever does it resemble the Marsli-Warblers in action or note. Its song is Ioav, soft, and mellifluous. 
The bird is constantly seen, and. Instead of skulking in thickets, hops here and there, perching on the top- 
most hough of a bush or on the stem of a tall cane, expanding and jerking its tail like a Wren. It is 
curious that a bird which remains all the Avinter in the Sahara should be so late a migrant in the warm 
regions of the Holy Land. The nest of Aedon is very easy to find ; for the tamarisk is its favourite tree, and 
it piles its large nest in a low fork. As in Algeria, so here aa^c found the serpent’s skin an invariable ingre- 
dient in the lining of the nest, and the green lizards our provoking riA^als in egg-collecting. The Palestine 
eggs are much more delicately and sparsely spotted than those of Africa, and, arranged together with them, 
would at first sight be pronounced to be distinct. Lindermayer gives April the 27th as the date of the bird’s 
return to Greece. I found it breeding in cane-brakes, by the shores of the Dead Sea, the last day of April, 
and in June on Lebanon, at a height of 7000 feet.” 
Lord Lilford tAvice met Avith this species in the Ionian Islands, once in Corfu, on Avhich occasion a friend of 
his killed a fine specimen ; and a few weeks afterwards at Katait, in Epirus, Avhere he Avatched a pair for 
some time, but refrained from shooting them. He observed them to be “ common in some parts of Spain, 
notably in Andalucia, in May, 1869 ; frequents the hedges of prickly pear, vineyards, &c. Has a habit of 
constantly lifting and spreading its tail, from which it derives its Andalucian name ‘ Alzannabo,’ t. e. tail- 
lifter.” 
The Rufous Sedge-Warbler is said to be a very frequent visitor to Portugal. In Malta, according 
to Mr. Wright, it is rare and does not occur annually ; when it does occur, it is mostly seen in September. 
Lastly, my friend Mr. J. Clarke HaAvkshaw met Avith this species at the upper Cataracts of the Nile, 
whence he brought some fine specimens, now before me. 
There is hut little difference in the size and colouring of the sexes ; but the female appears to be the 
smallest of the two, and to have the markings of the tall less strongly defined. 
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Cichorium intybiis. 
