602 
Mr. L. Griscom on the 
[Ibis, 
April and September, a few remaining to breed. The former 
states that he never personally met with the Sedge-Warbler, 
while the latter work calls it a rare migrant. Mr. Eagle 
Clarke met with neither species on either of his trips. 
Modern handbooks state that the winter home of the Aquatic 
Warbler is not known for certain. I am not aware that 
Crespon’s positive statement has ever been disproved. 
Sylvia xnelanocephala melanocephala (Gm.). 
A single bird of this species was studied for half an hour 
in a thick clump of tamarisk bushes near Les Saintes Maries. 
It is easily distinguished from the Blackcap by the white in 
the tail and its much smaller size. Another was seen on a 
stony bush-covered hillside near Arles. Two other Warblers 
seen near Arles may have been Blackcaps, but I was unable 
to get a satisfactory view. Both species are resident. 
Sylvia (Melizophilus) undata undata (Bodd.). 
Not uncommon in the wastes east of Les Saintes Maries. 
Very shy and about as hard to observe as a field-mouse. I 
have never seen a bird do the “disappearing act” more 
perfectly. One was seen to put down in an isolated clump 
of sea-blite without any nearby vegetation. It took me but 
a few seconds to reach this clump, but the bird wasn’t there 
when I arrived, and I was unable to rediscover it. 
? Turdus pilaris L. 
A single very wild bird seen near Arles, probably this 
species, but the identification by no means satisfactory. 
Turdus merula merula L. 
A single male seen on two occasions near Les Saintes 
© 
Maries. Mr. Eagle Clarke did not meet with this species in 
the Delta, where it seems to be a decidedly rare bird. 
Saxicola rubetra rubetra (L.). 
Apparently a rare bird in western Europe in winter, and 
its presence was probably due to the remarkably mild fall. 
Two birds seen in the truck-patches near Les Saintes Maries, 
and another near Arles. Not given as occurring in winter 
by the old French authors. 
