Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/390

Rh 366 W A R W A It built for the &quot; end-on attack,&quot; as it is called, a somewhat vague term for expressing the desire of some officers to light their ships end-on to the enemy, tactics, however, which can only be consistently carried out if the enemy consents to run away ; otherwise it is evident that, if both ships continue to advance towards each other, they will meet, and if they do not strike and sink each other, they must pass from the &quot; end-on &quot; to the &quot; broadside-on,&quot; then &quot; stem-on,&quot; and then, unless they mutually agree to run away from each other, they must pass through the &quot; broadside-on &quot; position again before they resume the &quot; end-on &quot; or bow attack. It would seen therefore to be wise not to construct the ordinary battle ships for any particular method of attack, whilst the whole subject is in such an untried and specula tive condition, and so much necessarily depends on the tactics of the enemy, but rather to make ships as strong all over, both offensively and defensively, as it is possible to do upon a given displacement and at a certain cost. The principal tactical formations for modern fleets are single column in line ahead ; two and three columns in line ahead ; the same in line abreast ; quarter line or line of bearing ; indented line ; and the group formation. In the last-named, a group of three ships becomes the tactical unit instead of the single ship ; there is a leader with a ship on each quarter at different angles and different distances ; and in this, and also in the indented line formation, the object is to keep the broadsides of the ships open or clear of consorts ; but, in consequence of the more recent battle ships not being built specially with a view to broadside fire, these somewhat complicated formations are not generally popular. Science and the ingenuity of inventors are day by day adding fresh weapons of more terribly destructive energy to the already prodigious list of war material, and the attack may be said to keep always well ahead of the defence, so that it becomes more difficult to lay down fixed rules for tactics than for strategy. Much will depend upon the personal genius, nerve, and happy in spirations of the individual admirals and captains who first find themselves engaged in a modern naval battle ; and national instincts, and practical experience in handling steam ships at high speed, will count for much towards the issue. (c. c. P..F.) WAKANGAL, or WORUNGUL, an ancient town in the Nizam s Dominions, or Hyderabad state, situated 86 miles north-east of Hyderabad city, in 17 58 N. lat. and 79 40 E. long., and containing in 1881 a population of 3347. It was the ancient capital of the Hindu kingdom of TelingAna, founded by the Narapati Andhras, of which now little remains to denote its former grandeur except the four gateways of the temple of Siva. These are still in a state of tolerable preservation. WARASDIN. See VARASD. WARBLER, in ornithology, the name bestowed in 1773 by Pennant (Genera of Birds, p. 35) 1 on the birds removed, in 1769, by Scopoli from the Linnaean genus Motacilla (cf. WAGTAIL) to one founded and called by him Sylvia, the last being a word employed by several of the older writers in an indefinite way, that is to say, on all the species of Motacilla which were not Wagtails. &quot; Warbler &quot; has long been used by English technical writers as the equivalent of Sylvia, and consequently generally applied to all members of the Family Sylviidse. thereon raised, which has since been so much subdivided as to include a vast number of genera, while species almost innumerable have from time to time been referred to it. Until recently ornithologists had come to agree pretty well as to which forms should be considered to belong to the Family Sylviidse, the &quot;American Warblers&quot; (Mniotiltidse), to be presently con sidered, being therefrom segregated ; but some writers, seeing the difficulty of separating the remainder from the Turdidse (cf. THRUSH), tried to get over it by proposing to erect an intermediate Family for the WHEATEAR (q.v. ) and some similar forms, under the name Saxicolidse. In truth the difficulty was thereby doubled, for, if it was before hard to distinguish between Sylviidse and Turdidse, it has since become harder to distinguish on the one hand between Sylviidse and Soxicolidee, and on the other between Saxicolidse and Turdidse. The confusion thus caused is chiefly due to the adoption in a more or less modified form of the views put forth by Sundevall in 1872, and revised by him in 1874 (cf. ORNI THOLOGY, vol. xviii. p. 38). For him, however, it is to be said that he at least proceeded in a fashion that had long been recognized, and gave reasons, -whether good or bad, for the system he pro pounded; but his imitators have omitted so obvious a requirement, and leave to any one who would use their results the task of dis covering how they have been reached. Hence it has been suggested that some of the alterations introduced since Sundevall s time have been purely arbitrary, if indeed they did not proceed from considerations of personal convenience, or occasionally even through mischance. Still the greatest allowance must be made for those who attempt to reduce to order such a multitudinous assemblage of forms forms which present an almost endless 1 For this reference, not before precisely given, the writer is in debted to the Rev. G. M Arthur. variety of small differentiating characters, pointing in numerous directions while the essential structure of all is apparently so similar that at present there is no hope of assistance from the anatomist or the morphologist. But the affinity, seeming or real, to the Turdidse does not offer the only difficulty. The resemblance which some other forms, often placed with the Sylviidse, bear to the Timeliidse 2 the Crateropodidx of sonic systematists is equally if not more puzzling. It is admitted by many systematists that the Timeliidse form a group that has been made a &quot;refuge for the destitute,&quot; a group into which genera and species that were trouble some to classify have been thrust ; and, as a natural consequence, the limits of such a &quot; Family &quot; or group have scarcely been plausibly defined. 3 It appears that the so-called Timeliidse, lead off to other groups, as the Laniidse (&amp;lt;/. SHRIKE) and what not, and their existence as a separate &quot; Family &quot; can hardly be taken for a certainty. Again, a small group of birds, almost wholly peculiar to the Australian region, have been sometimes separated as Maluridse, and of these more must be said presently. Lastly, there are certain genera that, though formerly included without hesitation among the Sylviidse, have lately been designated &quot;Fly-catchers,&quot; on grounds, however, that have not been explained. To deal with this theme in satisfactory detail would require far more space than can here be allowed, for the failures of later systematists would have to be shewn by a series of minute criticisms of a kind that would be only acceptable to specialists, and hardly understood by others than experts. All things then considered, it would seem to be best for our present purpose to regard the &quot;Warblers&quot; without pledging our faith to the recognition of a &quot; Family &quot; Sylviidse horn the point of view which obtained before the more recent and perplexing (because ill-defined) opinions were introduced, and that aspect is afforded by the scheme furnished by Canon Tristram to Mr Wallace, and by him adopted in his Geographical Distribution of Animals (ii. pp. 257-260) ; but our limits will only allow us to touch upon a few of the most prominent members in addition to those which have already been or will form the subject of separate articles. In this sense then the first that may be mentioned are those forming a group of more or less aquatic habit, usually called Calamohcrpinsc but more correctly Acroccplia- linse, the commonest of which in England is the well-known Sedge- bird or Sedge-Warbler, Acroccpkalus sckcenobsenus, whose chattering song resounds in summer-time from almost every wet ditch in most parts of Britain. As is the case with so many of its allies, the skulking habits of the bird cause it to be far more often heard than seen ; but, with a little patience, it may be generally observed flitting about the uppermost twigs of the bushes it frequents, and its mottled back and the yellowish-white streak over its eye serve to distinguish it from its ally the Reed-Wren or Reed-Warbler, A. strepcrus, which is clad in a wholly mouse-coloured suit. But this last can also be recognized by its different song, and comparatively seldom does it stray from the reed-beds which are its favourite 2 These are exotic birds, having no recognized English name. Those of &quot;Babblers,&quot; &quot; Bush- Babblers,&quot; and &quot;Babbling-Thrushes&quot; have been applied to them by some writers, who consider them to be sufficiently characterized by their short, rounded, and incurved wings. 3 Cf. Mr Sharpe s meritorious efforts, Cat. B. Brit. Museum, vols. vi. and vii.