304 Mr. O. Salvia's Five Months* Birds' -nesting 



birds in the chamber containing tlie eggs ; while the hole was 

 being enlarged, it would, every now and then, attempt to escape. 

 The eggs are laid early in June, and are usually six in number. 

 The flight of the Bee-eater is somewhat like that of a Swallow 

 {Hirundo rustica), though its movements are much slower; and 

 it is frequently to be seen perched on a bush. Its cry is harsh 

 and monotonous. 



29. Upupa epops. (Hoopoe.) 



The Hoopoe was abundant about Djendeli when we were 

 there. In every direction in the wooded hills of this district, the 

 cry from which the bird takes its trivial name might be heard ; 

 but, common as it was, we never obtained a single egg. 



30. Calamodyta locustella. (Grasshopper-Warbler.) 

 Every night while we were encamped near the Marabout of 



Sidi Khalifa Cherif, I used to hear the peculiar cry of a member 

 of this genus. On one occasion I saw, at the same place, a bird 

 which I considered at the time to have been a Grasshopper- 

 Warbler. The place appeared ill-adapted for this fen-loving 

 bird, being dry and sterile ; but from the fact of its being found 

 in England in fens, woods, and moors indiscriminately, it would 

 seem that the cover afforded by the sedge, rather than the 

 moisture of the situation, is what is sought for by the bird. 



31. Calamodyta luscinoides. (Savi's Warbler.) 



I found this bird abundant in the marsh of Zana. On ap- 

 proaching the margin of the reeds, its peculiar rattling note 

 might be heard in every direction. The bird, when uttering 

 this cry, climbs to the very top of a reed, often choosing the 

 tallest, where it sits, if not disturbed, for several minutes, with- 

 out changing its position. When singing, the head is moved 

 slowly from side to side, by which means it may be that the 

 ventriloquism ascribed to the Grasshopper-Warbler is produced, 

 — the apparent change of position of the bird being, in fact, a 

 change in the direction in which the sound of its voice is thrown. 

 On taking alarm, the songster drops instantly into the thickest 

 sedge, when pursuit is hopeless, as it carefully eludes observa- 

 tion, never showing itself in open flight ; sometimes, however. 



