■j6 OUR FAVOURITE SONG BIRDS 



during the course of a morning's watch we felt 

 contented — gratified that we had at least outwitted 

 them to some extent. And even then generally 

 all we saw was a male bird run mouse-like up 

 some twig taller than the rest, sing for a few 

 fleeting moments, and as suddenly drop down again. 

 It is perfectly useless to try and flush the Grasshopper 

 Warbler ; he will seldom or never commit himself, 

 and for hours you may follow him backwards and 

 forwards, led on by the alluring and curious song, 

 without once catching a glimpse of the dusky singer. 

 The Grasshopper Warbler is by no means confined 

 to marshy places, although it shows a strong 

 partiality for them in some localities. Its favourite 

 resorts are thickets, the brushwood in plantations 

 and game coverts, matted hedge-bottoms, ditches, 

 and the longer vegetation on commons and moors. 

 We have frequently met with this species on the 

 moors, miles away from woods, frequenting the tall 

 ling and clusters of stunted thorns and brambles. 

 If one is ever fortunate enough to drive this 

 Warbler from the cover, its flight will be ft)und 

 to be desultory and apparently feeble, and is never 

 prolonged for any great distance, the bird's one 

 effort being to hide itself as quickly as possible. 

 The song of the Grasshopper Warbler once heard 

 can never be forgotten. Not that it possesses any 

 sweetness ; its sole charm is its apparently never- 

 ending monotonousness. Of all our favourite song 



