Acrocephalus dumetorum, _Bl., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 155.
Calamodyta dumetorum (_Bl.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._
no. 516.
Blyth's Reed-Warbler breeds, I believe, for the most part along the
course of the streams of the lower Himalayan and sub-Himalayan ranges,
and in suitable localities on and about these ranges; such at least is
my present idea. They are with us in the plains up to quite the end of
March, and are back again by the last day of August, and during May at
any rate they may be heard and seen everywhere in the valleys south of
the first snowy range.
Mr. Brooks remarks that "this species was excessively common on the
Hindoostan side of the Pir-pinjal Range, but I have never seen it in
Cashmere. I think it breeds in the low valleys by the river-sides,
for it was in very vigorous song there at the end of May." This is my
experience also, and probably while many may go north to Central Asia
to breed, a good many remain in the localities indicated.
Captain Hutton says:--"This species arrives in the hills up to 7000
feet at least, in April, when it is very common, and appears in pairs
with something of the manner of a _Phylloscopus_. The note is a sharp
_tchick, tchick_, resembling the sound emitted by a flint and steel.
"It disappears by the end of May, in which month they breed; but,
owing to the high winds and strong weather experienced in that month
in 1848, many nests were left incomplete, and the birds must have
departed without breeding.
"One nest, which I took on the 6th May, was a round ball with a
lateral entrance; it was placed in a thick barberry-bush growing at
the side of a deep and sheltered ditch; it was composed of coarse
dry grasses externally and lined with finer grass. Eggs three and
pearl-white, with minute scattered specks of rufous, chiefly at the
larger end. Diameter 0·62 by 0·5."
The late Mr. A. Anderson wrote the following note:--"On the fifth
day after leaving Naini Tal--ever mindful of my friend Mr. Brooks's
parting advice to me (in reference to the part of the country which
required to be investigated), 'avoid the lower hills as the plague'--I
reached Takula, which is the first march beyond Almora on the road to
the Pindari glacier, late on the evening of the 10th of May. It rained
heavily all that night, so that I was obliged to halt the next day,
my tents being far too wet to be struck, and the distance to the next
halting-place necessitating a start the first thing in the morning.
"Takula is at an elevation between 5000 and 6000 feet; it is
beautifully wooded, with a small mountain-stream flowing right
under the camping-ground, and the climate is delightful. All things
considered, I was not sorry at having an opportunity of exploring such
productive-looking ground; and before it was fairly daylight the next
morning operations were commenced in right earnest. To each of my
collectors I apportioned off a well-wooded mountain-slope, reserving
for my own hunting-ground (as I had not yet got my _hill-legs_) the
water-courses and ravines in the immediate vicinity of my camp.
"Not more than 20 yards from where my tent stood, there is a deep
ravine clothed on both banks with a dense jungle of the larger kind of
nettle (_Girardinia heterophylla_: such nettles too!), the hilldock
(_Rumea nepalensis_), and wild-rose trees. Wending my way through this
dark, damp, and muggy nullah to the best of my ability, I came upon
the nest of this interesting little bird; it was placed in the centre
of a rose-bush, at an elevation of some two feet above the bank and
about four feet from where I stood, but yet in a most tantalizing
situation, inasmuch as it was necessary to remove several thorny
branches before an examination of the nest was possible.
"The act of cutting away the branches alarmed my sombre little
friend (I knew that the nest was tenanted, as the bill and head were
distinctly visible through the lateral entrance), and out she darted
with such a '_whir_' that anything like satisfactory identification
for a bird of this sort was utterly hopeless. The nest contained four
beautiful little eggs, so that to bag the parent bird was a matter of
the first importance; all my attempts, however, first to capture
her on the nest and next to shoot her as she flew off, were equally
futile, her movements being as rapid and erratic as forked lightning.
And here let me give a word of advice to my brother ornithologists:
Never attempt to shoot a _wary little bird in the act of leaving its
nest_, as you only run the risk, and mortification I may add, of
wounding perhaps an unknown bird, in which case she will never again
return to her nest; but _lie in ambush_ for her with, outlying scants,
_and make certain of her as she is returning to her nest_. She will
first alight on a neighbouring tree, then on one closer, coming nearer
and nearer each time; finally, she will perch on the very tree or bush
in which the nest is built, and while taking a look round to see that
all is well before making a final ascent, you have yourself to blame
if you fail to bag her. All this sounds very cruel; but if a bird must
be shot for scientific purposes, it is surely preferable to kill it
outright than to let it die a lingering death. Thus it was that I
eventually succeeded, even at the expense of being devoured alive by
midges and mosquitoes; but then had I not the satisfaction of
knowing that to become the happy possessor of _authentic_ eggs of
_Acrocephalus dumetorum_ was in itself sufficient to repay me for my
hill excursion!
"I cannot, however, pretend to lay claim to originality in the
discovery of the breeding-habits of this bird, for Hutton's
description of the nest and eggs taken by him so fully accords with my
own experience, that it is but fair to conclude he was correct in his
identification. I would add, however, with reference to his remarks,
that the nest above alluded to was _more elliptical_ than _spherical_,
being about the size and shape of an Ostrich's egg, that it was
constructed throughout of the _largest_ and _coarsest_ blades
of various kinds of dry grass, the egg-cavity being lined with
grass-bents of a finer quality, and that it was domed over, having a
lateral entrance about the middle of the nest. The whole structure
was so loosely put together as to fall to pieces immediately it was
removed.
"The eggs, four in number, are pure while, beautifully glossed, and
well covered with rufous or reddish-brown specks, most numerous at the
obtuse end. Owing to its similarity to a number of eggs, particularly
to those of the Titmouse group, it is just one of those that I would
never feel comfortable in accepting on trust.
"It was a remarkable coincidence that the very day I took this nest
my post brought me part iv. of the P.Z.S. for 1874, containing Mr.
Dresser's interesting paper on the nidification of the _Hypolais_
and _Acrocephalus_ groups; and if I understand him rightly, he is
certainly correct in his surmise as to the eggs of _Acrocephalus
dumetorum_ approaching those of the _Hypolais_ group.
"My good luck, as regards Blyth's Reed-Warbler, did not end here, for
on the following day, at Bagesur, at an elevation of only 3000 feet,
I again encountered a pair of these birds, finding their nest on the
banks of the Surjoo. The position, shape, and architecture of this
nest were identical with the one I have above described, but the eggs
unfortunately had not been laid. The little birds, on this occasion,
were quite fearless, hopping from stem to stem of the dense
undergrowth which throughout the Bagesur valley fringes both banks of
the river, every now and again making a temporary halt for the purpose
of picking insects off the leaves, with an occasional '_tchick_,'
which Hutton resembles to the 'sound emitted by a flint and
steel,' but all the time enticing me away from the site of their
dwelling-place. In this way they led me a wild-goose chase several
times up and down the river-bank before I was able to discover the
whereabouts of their nest."
Captain Hutton sent me three eggs of this species. The eggs are
otherwise unknown to me, and I describe them only on Captain Hutton's
authority. The eggs are rather broad ovals, very smooth and compact in
texture, but with little or no gloss. They are pure white, very thinly
speckled with reddish and yellowish brown, the markings being most
numerous towards the large end, and even there somewhat sparse and
very minute. They measure respectively 0·65 by 0·52, 0·65 by 0·51, and
0·62 by 0·51.