THE GRASSHOPPER WARBLER 59 



covered with a thick growth of gorse and bramble and dog-rose, 

 with a carpet of coarse rank grass. It is also specially fond of 

 frequenting the dense vegetation of all kinds that luxuriantly 

 covers the banks of brooks. In all these situations I have often 

 lingered to catch a glimpse of this shy little creature, chasing 

 him up and dov/n the cover, backwards and forwards, directed to 

 him solely by his song, and only obtaining the briefest possible 

 glimpse of him, as, mouse-like, he glided through the long grass, 

 or hopped from twig to twig with amazing speed. If fairly 

 beaten out of his retreat he seems like one bewildered, and 

 flutters aimlessly about, glad to hide in the first cover that may 

 afford him shelter. At rare intervals he may be seen to run 

 nimbly up a tall stem of herbage, or explore the higher branches 

 of the bushes ; but at the least alarm he drops like a stone 

 into the thicket below, and no artifice will make him leave it. 



The note of this bird once heard can never be forgotten. 

 It is one long tremulous trill, louder than the grasshopper's, 

 but equally as monotonous. This sibilant song often lasts 

 w^ithout cessation for two or three minutes together, now 

 sounding startlingly near or very remote, as the bird changes 

 its position in the thick cover — loud and close when he is up 

 in the branches, low and remote when down in the grass. It 

 may be heard at all hours of the day and night ; but it becomes 

 specially loud and continuous in the dusk of the summer 

 evenings. If hunted from one place to another, the bird 

 appears to show very little uneasiness and is not readily 

 frightened. The song ceases for a moment wdien you ap- 

 proach the bushes where the little skulker is concealed, but 

 it bursts out again directly afterwards in another part of the 

 cover ; and so the bird may be hunted or followed from 

 place to place, perhaps without once showing itself. 



The food of the Grasshopper Warbler is composed chiefly 

 of insects and their larvae ; but in autumn this fare is 

 occasionally varied by fruits of different kinds. 



