WARBLERS 49 



Its attitude whilst singing has been well described 

 from observation by Rev. C. A. Johns in his 

 " British Birds in their Haunts," p. 112. 



In West Sussex I have known nests to be found 

 every summer, generally cut out by the mowers. 

 They are not built close to a hedge or at the foot 

 of a bank, as some writers allege, but always out 

 in the open grass in a depression, so that the 

 scythe cuts over them ; and there is always a " run " 

 to the nest, like that of a mouse. 



In the Avicultural Magazine, 1898, p. 189, Mr. 

 P. W. Farmborough has related his experience in 

 rearing the young (which soon died) and keeping 

 the adult bird in captivity for three months. 



SAVrS WARBLER. Locustella luscinoides (Savi). PI. 

 8, fig. 15, Length, 5-5 in. ; wing, 2*5 in. ; tarsus, '8 in. 



Formerly a regular summer migrant to the 

 eastern counties until the fen - lands were drained, 

 and used to nest annually in the fens of Wicken, 

 Burwell, and Whittlesea. The eggs have also been 

 taken at Dagenham, Essex, 14th May 1850 [Zool., 

 1850, p. 2894); at Erith, Kent, 28th May 1853 

 {ZooL, 1853, p. 3945) ; and in Devonshire {Ibis, 

 1865, p. 23). A nest of Savi's Warbler, described 

 as being composed of the long narrow leaves of 

 the common reed {Arundo phragmites) , and taken 

 at Baitsbight, Cambridgeshire, is figured in the 

 ZooL, 1846, p. 1307. On subsequent more care- 

 ful examination of this nest, which is preserved 

 in the British Museum, and has been refigured by 



D 



