Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 7 of 9.djvu/95

 

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GREAT REED WARBLER.

 

Acrocephalus turdoides, Gould, Birds of Great Britain, vol. ii, 2 pp, pl. 72 (coloured figure of adult), 1870; Seebohm, British Birds, vol. i, pp. 361-366, pl. 10, fig. 14 (egg), 1883 ; Lilford, Coloured Figures, vol.iii, p. 34, pl. 17 (coloured figure of adult), 1886 ; Saunders, Manual of British Birds, 2nd Ed., pp. 83-84 (woodcut), 1898.

Acrocephalus arundinaceus, Yarrell, British Birds, 4th Ed., edited by Newton, vol. i, pp. 364-368 (woodcut), 1873 ; Dresser, Birds of Europe, vol. ii, pp. 579-583, pl. 88 (coloured figures of adult and young), 1878.

Danish, Rördrossel; French, Rousserolle; German, Drossel-Bohrsänger; Portuguese, Chinchafoes; Spanish, Carrisalero; Dutch, De groote Karakiet; Hungarian, Nagy nádirigó; Italian, Cannareccione; Russian, Trost-janoidrosd; Swedish, Trastsangare.

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLUMAGE.

 

Adult Male in Spring.—The upper parts are buffish rusty grey, slightly more greyish on the crown and nape, but more of a buff colour on the rump and upper tail-coverts. Flight and tail feathers are brown narrowly edged with the same colour as the back, innermost secondaries and the rest of the wing-coverts being broadly margined with this colour. There is a light bullish grey superciliary stripe, the lores are buffish grey, and sides of the head brownish grey. The throat and abdomen are white, crop whitish buff, and sides of the upper breast greyish buff, the latter colour shading into pure buff on the flanks and under tail-coverts. The underside of the wings and tail is greyish brown, the feathers of the latter being tipped with light greyish buff, while the under wing-coverts are pure buff. Iris is dark brown, the small feathers on the eyelid whitish, the upper mandible dark horn colour, and the lower brown at the tip but shading into buff flesh

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