THE REED-WARBLEBS. 
227 
from the latter, and more rarely on the ground itself, concealed 
among the herbage. It is an artless structure, somewhat 
shallow, composed of dry grass-stems, pieces of dead water- 
plants, with a little hair for the lining, and some scraps of 
vegetable down. Mr. Robert Read draws our attention to the 
fact that there is nearly always a feather, and sometimes two, 
left projecting over the eggs in the nest, and serving to hide the 
latter from view. This is especially the case when the nest is 
built low down in a damp situation. The nest is often found 
at a considerable distance from any water, sometimes a quarter 
of a mile away. 
Eggs. — From four to six in number, and very uniform in ap- 
pearance. The ground-colour is greenish-white, but this is 
seldom to be seen, owing to the uniform clouding of the eggs, 
which vary from olive to brown or stone-grey. The mottlings, 
when present, are yellowish-brown or dark brown, occasionally 
reddish-brown, and there is generally a hair-like line of black 
at the larger end, these pencilled lines being more characteris- 
tic of the uniform clutches than of the mottled ones. Axis, 
07-0-8 inch; diam., o'S-o'55. Mr. Robert Read informs us 
that he has taken eggs of this bird, near Glasgow, of a beauti- 
ful salmon-pink colour. 
THE GREAT REED-WARBUER. ACROCEPHALUS TURDOIDES. 
Tnrdus arundinaceus, Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 296 (1766). 
Acrocephalus arundinaceus (L.), Newt. ed. Yarr., i., p. 364 
(1873) ! Dresser, B. Eur., ii., p. 379, pi. 88 (1878). 
Acrocephalus turdoides (Meyer), Seeb., Cat. B. Brit. Mus., v. 
p. 95 (1881) ; id. Br. B., i., p. 361 (1883) ; B. O. U. List 
Br. B., p. 19 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B., pt. ii. 
(1886) ; Saunders, Man., p. 75 (1889). 
Adult Male. — General colour above, brown, rather more dingy 
on the head, and a little more rufescent on the lower back and 
rump, and upper tail-coverts ; wing-coverts like the back, the 
bastard-wing darker brown and contrasting with the rest of the 
coverts; primary-coverts and quills dark brown, edged with 
rufescent-brown ; tail-feathers lighter brown, with whitish 
fringes at the ends, and margined with reddish-brown ; lores, 
sides of face, and ear-coverts ashy-brown, dusky in front of the 
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