167. Acrocephalus dumetorum

167. BLYTH’S REED-WARBLER.
ACROCEPHALUS DUMETORUM.
Acrocephalus dumetorum, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng, xviii. p. 815 (1849) ; Dresser, ii. p. 561, pl. 86, fig. 2 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. Mus. v. p. 104 ; (Oates), F. Brit. Ind. Birds, i. p. 359 ; Pleske, Orn. Ross. ii. p. 532. A. magnirostris (Liljeb,) Ofv. K. Vet. Ak. Forh. 1850, p. 274, pl. xix.
Podena, Hind. ; Tik-tikki, of the Mussulmans ; Tikra, Beng. : Sadovaya-Malinofka. Russ. ; Viitakerttu, Finn.
Male ad. (Ural). Upper parts dull light olivaceous brown ; the rump more olivaceous, the sides of the head tinged with grey ; wings and tail dark brown margined with olivaceous brown ; a dull white superciliary stripe ; under parts white, tinged with yellowish buff on the breast, flanks and crissum ; bill brown above, fleshy below ; legs reddish brown ; iris yellow-brown. Culmen 0.6, wing 2.5, tail 2.2, tarsus 0.9 inch ; first primary narrow, equal in length to the coverts, second 0.2 shorter than the 3rd, and about equal to the 7th ; 3rd and 4th nearly equal and longest, sexes alike. In the winter the underparts are washed with clear buff.
Hab. Russia, from the Government of St. Petersburg east to the valley of the Yenesei, and from Archangel to Orenburg ; Transcaspia, the Altai, Turkestan, Bokhara, and the Himalayas from Kashmir to Nepal, wintering in India from the Himalayas to Ceylon, and from Sind to Assam and southern Pegu.
In its general habits is less aquatic than its allies, and frequents not only reeds and trees overhanging the water, but also low bush jungle and is to be met with at an altitude of 6,000 feet or, even higher. Near St. Petersburg it is generally met with in gardens. Its call-note is a sharp tchik, tchik resembling the sound caused when a flint and steel are struck but I find no description of its song. It places its nest in a low bush near the ground, and the nest is globular with a lateral entrance, rather loosely constructed of grass, and lined with finer grass or horsehair. The eggs which are deposited in May run into three varieties, the first of which are pale rose coloured with violet-grey and reddish brown and a few black spots, the second milky white spotted with olive-brown, and the third dirty white so closely spotted with brown that the ground colour is almost hidden. In size they average about 17.85 by 12.95 millimetres (0.70 by 0.60 inch).