8fi THE SiMALLER BRITISE BIRDS. 



tail. Tlieir nests are large, and lined witli wool, hair, or other soft 

 materials; and their eggs of various shades of blue. 



The Warblers are distinguished from the Chats by their more 

 slender form, and the narrowness of their beaks at the base. The 

 Grasshopper Wai-bler, which belongs to the genus Si.bilatrix, frequents 

 thickets and patches of furze, and is remarkable for its sharp, chir- 

 ping note. The remaining birds make their homes in marshy places 

 on the banks of rivers or pools, amid the reeds, sedges, and willows; 

 here they cling by means of their long sharp-pointed claws to the 

 stems and branches, or make short flights in pursuit of the dragon- 

 flies and other insects which are plentiful in such situations. Several 

 of them sing by night as well as by day, and their pleasant warble 

 mav be heard when most other birds are silent. 



Never tiring, when on high 

 Glowing planets deck the sky, 

 Or the moon, with silvery ray, 

 Chases gathering mists away. 

 Still your song rings loud and sweot 

 AVhen the night and morning meet. 

 Little Warblers of the fen 

 Do ye ever rest — and wheu .' 



