NATURAL HISTORY. 



J41 



Tribe III DEXTIROSTRES. (Lat. tooth-billed.) 



Family I Luscinidse. (Lat. Luscinia, a Nightingale. Nightin- 

 gale kind.) 



Sub-family a. . Luscinince. 



CALAMODYTA. (Gr. Ka^a/nodvTrjc, a diver in reeds.) 



V, 



Locustella, the Grasshopper Warbler. 



WHILE walking along the hedges during the spring, an inces- 

 sant cry, closely resembling that of the grasshopper, and easily 

 to be taken for it, is heard proceeding from the hedge. This 

 cry proceeds from a little bird, called on that account the GRASS- 

 HOPPER WARBLER. The little creature keeps so close that it 

 is very difficult to catch even a casual glance at it, as it flits 

 along the bottom of the hedge. 



The nest is carefully concealed, and very difficult to find. 

 It is composed of dried grass, and is usually hidden by the tufts 

 of herbage among which it is built. The eggs are from five to 

 seven in number ; white, speckled with red. The length of 

 the bird is five inches and a half ; the third primary feather is 

 the longest. 



