THE TAN-TAILED WARBLER. S17 
weeds, sedges, and other aquatic plants, in the midst of which it 
seeks its food, and nestles so secretly that it very frequently eludes 
observation. Mr. McGillivray found a nest of this species on the 
marshy borders of Duddingston Loch, near Edinburgh. It was 
placed in the midst of a large 
clump of Solanum dulcamara, 
supported by the branches, and 
so hidden that he only found it 
after cutting off a great number 
of flowering twigs. This nest 
was composed of leaves, grasses, 
and other slender plants, loosely 
but neatly put together. 
The Fan-tailed Warbler (Sa/z- 
caria cesticola, Fig. 227) closely 
resembles the preceding. Its 
sound is loud, cheerful, and much 
diversified, night being generally 
selected for the display of its 
vocal powers. Its nest is com- 
posed of blades and stalks of 
grasses, lined with finer plants 
and hair; is of a conical form, 
with the apex downwards; in 
depth from four to five inches 
externally, and three in the in- 
terior, and as much in breadth 
at the top ; and is fastened to the 
stalks of several reeds, in a most 
ingenious way, some distance 
above the ground—an arrangement giving security to the eggs, which 
are of a brown colour, spotted with dark olive, and usually marked 
with one or two blackish, irregular lines. 
The charming petite Grasshopper Warbler (Calamodyta locustella) 
is well worthy of remembrance, although its visits to us annually do 
not extend over three months. It has a peculiar power of ventrilo- 
quism in its voice, which would induce the listener to its silvery note 
to believe that the producer was close at hand, although in reality 
a hundred yards off. 
The Tailor Bird, known to French writers as Za fawvette couturiere, 
is Most curious in respect to the manner in which it builds its nest. 
Aided by bill and claws, it stretches out into a thread fibres gathered 
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Fig. 227.—The Fan-tailed Warbler. 
