Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/182

156 was hoping to meet with. Here I found these great Warblers in some numbers, and listened to perhaps half a score or more in the limited space I explored. The place was a veritable stronghold for the birds, as, in the absence of a boat, one could not hope to reach a nest, or indeed get very close to the birds. But the loud croaking song could be listened to easily, and could be heard from afar. Not much less conspicuous were the birds themselves, with their dull brown upper parts, reddish-brown tail, and whitish under parts (the contrast between the colours of the head and back and the tail is not very obvious in dried skins, but it is remarkable in the living bird), for they often perched on an upper willow twig, quite high up, or on a flag or reed stem in an open spot. The Great Reed Warbler sits, when singing, in a very upright position, with the point of its bill raised, the bill open as it sings, and the throat throbbing and swelled so that the small feathers part, showing their dusky bases, and the bird appears almost to possess a dusky gular spot. It is a restless, bold, and noisy bird at this season, and often takes flight from bush to bush. The song is very remarkable. The likeness of some notes in it, in character, to those of a Frog is very striking, although they do not exactly resemble those of any kind of Frog with which I am acquainted. The bird's notes are chiefly grating, and often have a guttural tone. These are some notes and phrases which I wrote down:—"Gurk gurk gurk; gurruck gurruck gurruck; ick ick ick ick; gik gik gik (shrill and squeaky); ajik ajik ajik; jirp jirp jirp ik ik; garra garra geek (last note high, and the g hard); gak gak karry karry (the last two notes high). Two or three Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus streperus) sang in their leisurely way in some of the thicker willows. Edible Frogs (Rana esculenta) in great numbers croaked their loud harsh grating cries, or splashed noisily into the water from spots where they had been sunning themselves. On the grassy land between the pools and the Meuse several Blue-headed Wagtails ran after insects, or rose with their plaintive "wich-ooo" or "wich-eee" as I passed. Sedge Warblers, haunting the ditch below the river bank, contributed their hurried song, and a few Sky-Larks and Whinchats made up the bird-life in evidence, although visions of small species of the genus Porzana and some more secret Warblers made me long for a boat and a week's