Warbler - British Trust for Ornithology

INTRODUCTION 9
wallis and Smith, 1960) gets under way, our knowledge in this
field will increase. Meanwhile, it will be clear from the little
information available for most species that a full statement will
not be possible for many years to come-indeed, perhaps not
until trapping and ringing in Africa, India and S.E. Asia tmdergo
a similar revolution to that which is apparent in Britain today.
British Trust for Ornithology KENNETH WILLIAMSON
(Migration Research Officer)
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
IN REVISING Identification for Ringers no. 1 the opportunity has been
taken to enlarge and re-cast the material so that this new edition
will be more nearly a companion-volume to guide no. 2, which
deals with the genus Phylloscopus.
As in that guide, I have arranged the birds of the 'reed-marsh'
group ofwarblers in accordance with primary plumage characters
and size, and this has meant sinking two monotypic genera,
Lusciniola and Phragamaticola. The genus Acrocephalus is a very
varied one in so far as wing-formula and structural characters are
concerned, and I can see no grounds which seem to me to justify
the separation ofthe Moustached Warbler melanopogon from the
streaked members ofAcrocephalus in a genus of its own. Indeed,
this almost traditional arrangement has tended to obscure the
bird's true relationship, for Dresser (1902), Hartert (1910), The
Handbook of British Birds (1938) and many other works interpose
the genus Locustella between the Moustached and the closely
similar Sedge- and Aquatic Warblers. Colin Harrison and Shane
Parker, working independently on this group at the British
Museum (Natural History), hold similar views, and recommend
that Lusciniola should be synonymized with Acrocephalus (Bull.
RO.C., in press).
There might be more justification for upholding the monotypic
genus Phragamaticola, in view ofthe Thick-billed Warbler's
exceptionally rounded wing, long rounded tail, and short bill;