Mr. George R. Gray mentions “ that this is a rare species
even in the South of Europe, and was first noticed by Savi
in the Nuovo Giornale de Letterai, No. X IV . 1824; again
in his ‘ Ornitologia Toscana, tom. i. p. 270,’ under the name
of Sylvia luscinoides, and is also figured by Savigny in his
‘ Description de l’Egypt, pi. 18, f. 3.’” It appears to have
been noticed by M. Temminck in 1835; it is figured by
Pollidore Roux, in his Birds of Provence, and by Mr. Gould
in his Birds of Europe.
This neat little Warbler belongs, like the Sedge and Reed
Warblers, to that small group which frequent moist and
^shaded situations, among reeds and bushes near water. M.
Savi says that it arrives in Tuscany about the middle of
April, that it conceals itself among willows and shrubs, creeping
about among the low branches, and feeds on worms and
insects. The nest and eggs are probably unknown.
The beak is brown; the head, neck above, back, wings,
and tail-feathers reddish-brown ; the latter indistinctly barred
across with narrow darker bands ; chin and throat almost
white; front of neck and breast pale brown ; under parts of
the body rather darker, but lighter in colour than the upper
surface of the body ; legs and toes pale brown.
The whole length of the bird five inches and a half; the
wing, from the anterior bend, two inches and a half. This
bird resembles the Reed Warbler, and was at first mistaken
for i t ; the plumage is, however, like that of the Nightingale,
and it was probably on this account that Charles Lucian
Bonaparte, Prince of Canino, has called it Pseudoluscinia.
TH E R E ED WARBLER.
Sylvia arundinacea, Reed Warbler, P enn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 520.
Motacilla „ „ Wren, M ontagu, Ormth. Diet.
Sylvia „ Night Warbler, B ewick, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 254.
Curruca „ Reed „ F lem. Brit. An. p. 69.
Salicaria „ „ Wren, S elby, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 203.
Sylvia „ „ „ J enyns, Brit. Vert. p. 107.
Salicaria „ ,» G ould, Birds of Europe, pt. xix.
Sylvia ,, Bec-Jin des roseaux, T emm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. 191-
T he R eed W a r b l e r appears to have been first made
known as a British Bird by the Rev. John Lightfoot, who,
in a communication to Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., which was
read at the Royal Society, and printed in the volume of
Transactions for the year 1785, has well described the habits,