Part 224

Species.

a1. Larger; wing more than 60 mm.; plumage without spots or streaks.

b1. Slightly larger; bill, tarsus, and toes decidedly heavier; bill from nostril about 11 mm.; rectrices uniform in color, the outermost pair slightly longer than the under coverts ... fasciolata (p. 567) b2. Slightly smaller; bill, tarsus, and toes decidedly more slender; bill from nostril about 10 mm.; rectrices with pale tips and subterminal blackish bars, the outermost pair slightly shorter than the under coverts. ... ochotensis (p. 568)

a2. Smaller; wing less than 60 mm.; feathers of upper parts with conspicuous, dark, median streaks; chest, sides, and flanks usually marked with elongate dark spots ... lanceolata (p. 569)

548. LOCUSTELLA FASCIOLATA (Gray).

GRAY'S GRASSHOPPER WARBLER.

Acrocephalus fasciolatus Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1860), 349. Locustella fasciolata Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 5, 109, pl. 5; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 210 (habits, migration); Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 185; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 87.

Batan (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Luzon (Everett, Whitehead, Celestino); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Mindoro (Porter); Sulu (Bourns & Worcester); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester). Talaut, Sangir, and Molucca Islands, eastern Siberia, China, and Japan; in winter to Batchian, Halmahera, and Morotai.

Male (Batan Island, May).--Above dark russet-brown; wings and tail seal-brown, edged with russet-brown; second primary edged with gray; a distinct line over lores, eye, and ear-coverts ashy gray; lores and upper ear-coverts dusky; chin and fore throat white, becoming ashy or drab-gray on cheeks, ear-coverts, sides of throat, and breast; breast ashy gray, becoming white on middle of abdomen; sides, flanks, and thighs light olive-brown; crissum yellowish olive-brown. Wing, 76; tail, 68; outermost rectrix, 45; culmen from base, 20; bill from nostril, 11; tarsus, 26; middle toe with claw, 24.

In winter the upper parts, especially the head, are lighter; the superciliary stripe, cheeks, and under parts are washed with buff and the gray is entirely obscured. The male and female are very similar if not identical in colors. A female from Calayan in fresh winter-plumage measures: Wing, 72; tail, 66; culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 11; tarsus, 26. A female in somewhat worn plumage, wing, 72; tail, 68; culmen from base, 19; bill from nostril, 11; tarsus, 25.

549. LOCUSTELLA OCHOTENSIS (Middendorf).

YELLOW GRASSHOPPER WARBLER.

Sylvia (Locustella) ochotensis Middendorf, Sib. Reise (1853), 2, 185. Locustella ochotensis Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 5, 113; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 210 (migration); Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 186; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 87.

Basilan (McGregor); Batan (McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Luzon (McGregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Mindanao (Goodfellow); Mindoro (Whitehead); Romblon (McGregor). Kurile Islands, northeastern Siberia, Greater Sunda Islands, Kamtchatka, Japan; Borneo in winter.

Adult.--Above russet-brown; feathers of head and back with darker centers; lores and a line over eye to nape ashy; cheeks and ear-coverts brown with a buff wash; jaws white; loral and malar feathers with shafts extending beyond the webs, the produced portions black; sides of the neck brown; under parts white; sides, flanks, thighs, and crissum buffy brown; a faint buff wash across fore breast; wings and tail similar to the back, the latter with obsolete, narrow bars on upper surface; rectrices dark gray below, each with a dark bar just anterior to the whitish tip. Upper mandible dusky, lower mandible light flesh-color, dusky at tip; legs and nails pale flesh-color. Length, about 165; male, wing, 74; tail, 60; culmen from base, 16; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 24; middle toe with claw, 23. Female, wing, 65; tail, 54; culmen from base, 15; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 22; middle toe with claw, 21.

Young.--In young birds the sides of the head and the entire under parts are strongly suffused with yellowish buff.

550. LOCUSTELLA LANCEOLATA (Temminck).

STREAKED GRASSHOPPER WARBLER.

Sylvia lanceolata Temminck, Man. d'Orn. (1840), 4, 614. Locustella lanceolata Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 5, 118; Oates, Fauna Brit. India Birds (1889), 1, 354; Sharpe, Hand-List (1903), 4, 186; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1905), 4, 180, pl. 9, fig. 9; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 87.

Calayan (McGregor); Luzon (Heriot, McGregor). Russia, Siberia, and central Asia; in winter to China, Andaman Islands, Indian Peninsula, and Burmese provinces.

Adult (sexes similar).--Above olivaceous russet-brown, each feather with a wide seal-brown shaft-streak; primaries and secondaries seal-brown edged with russet-brown, second primary edged with whitish; secondary-coverts similar to back; tail nearly uniform brown; sides of head and ear-coverts brown; a yellowish buff line above, and another below, eye; cheek and jaw buff, traversed by a narrow blackish brown line; under parts whitish, washed with buff on fore breast, sides, flanks, and crissum; feathers of these parts more or less marked with blackish brown shaft-lines. Bill dusky above, flesh-color below; legs and nails pale yellowish flesh-color. Length, 120 to 125. A male from Calayan measures: Wing, 57; tail, 45; culmen from base, 12; bill from nostril, 7; tarsus, 17. A female, wing, 53; tail, 43; culmen from base, 11; bill from nostril, 7; tarsus, 19.

"The streaks on the lower surface become reduced in aged birds. The bird least marked in my series has a few streaks only on the middle of the breast and on the flanks, with one or two faint marks on the under tail-coverts. In this state it is very like the Indian L. straminea. The majority of the birds are densely streaked from the chin to the tail-coverts, except on the abdomen; and all these are characterized by a richer tone of coloring beneath. The tail-coverts vary in the most extraordinary manner. In many of the birds they are entirely unmarked; in others densely streaked, and this apparently quite independently of the amount of streaking on the other parts of the lower plumage." (Oates.)

Genus ACROCEPHALUS Naumann, 1811.

Bill comparatively long and stout; from three to five large rictal bristles on each side of bill; wing long, flat, and pointed; first primary minute, narrow, and pointed; third primary longest, second a little shorter; tail decidedly rounded; tarsus and feet well developed.

Species.

a1. Much smaller; wing, about 60 mm.; a blackish stripe on each side of crown. ... sorghophilus (p. 570) a2. Much larger; wing, about 90 mm.; no blackish stripes on the crown. ... orientalis (p. 571)

551. ACROCEPHALUS SORGHOPHILUS (Swinhoe).

LITTLE REED WARBLER.