THE GRASSHOPPER WARBLERS. 237 



tawny-coloured birds, but can be recognised at once by their broad whitish 

 eyebrow. _ The obsolete rictal bristles and the more graduated tail also 

 serve to distinguish a Locustella. 



Range in Great Britain. — Found in summer nesting throughout 

 the greater part of England and Wales, and being numerous 

 in the northern counties of Northumberland and Durham, while 

 it becomes rarer further north, though its range is known to ex- 

 tend to Arisaig below the Sound of Sleat, according to Mr. 

 Howard Saunders, and further to the Isle of Skye. In Ireland 

 it is also found, and breeds in the eastern and southern districts. 



Range outside the British Islands. — Nests throughout Central 

 Europe to the south of the Baltic and throughout Central and 

 Southern Russia, on the northern slope of the Caucasus, 

 according to Pleske, who says that it also extends to Turkes- 

 tan and the southern slope of the Altai Mountains. It is 

 supposed to winter in Northern Africa, and also in Southern 

 Europe ; but it has not been recorded from Greece or Asia 

 Minor, is only known to occur on migration in Italy, only an 

 autumn and winter bird in Southern Spain, as stated by Mr. 

 Howard Saunders. 



Habits. — This bird is a greater skulker than any of the othei 

 Warblers, and it is more difficult to procure than any of them. Its 

 nest is always well concealed, and the actions of the bird are more 

 like those of a Mouse, as it threads its w r ay through the grass, 

 when disturbed from its home. It is, therefore, one of those 

 species whose presence would never be detected w r ere it not 

 for its extraordinary song, which resembles the note of a Grass- 

 hopper, except that it is more powerful and is continued for a 

 longer period, sometimes for as long as two minutes together. 

 Mr. Seebohm does not agree that the sound is ventriloquial, 

 but we have always found it to be somewhat difficult to trace 

 down on the few occasions that we have noticed the species in 

 Berkshire, and it is certainly the case with the allied species, 

 Locustella fluviatilis, in Hungary. The Grasshopper Warbler 

 is sometimes found in considerable numbers together on its 

 arrival in spring, and Mr. Gates records the same fact with 

 some of the Eastern species, which winter in Burma. Even 

 in the nesting season many pairs frequent the same district. 



The species is sometimes to be observed in the early mom- 



