78 THE BIRDS OF BERKS AND BUCKS. 



Grasshopper Warbler {Salicaria locustelld). 

 This shy little warbler is a regular summer visitor, 

 but cannot be called common. It is very retiring in 

 its habits, living among the thickest undergrowth of 

 the woods, but is probably local rather than rare. 



A few nests are taken almost every summer in 

 this neighbourhood ; although I have never found 

 one in either county myself. It is a difficult nest 

 to find, being secreted among the tangled grass and 

 thick herbage which usually surround furze and 

 other small bushes. The eggs of this species are 

 white, closely freckled with pink or reddish-brown, 

 and scarcely ever vary. 



It occurs at Wantage, Chesham, High Wycombe, 

 and Drayton Beauchamp ; and in the neighbourhood 

 of Cookham it is not uncommon in June and July. 

 Its note is not unlike the ' chirping' of the Grass- 

 hopper, from which circumstance it has derived its 

 name. 



Sedge Warbler {Salicaria phragmites). Local 

 name, Fan-tail Warbler. In early summer, the 

 osier-beds on the banks of the Thames, from Staines 

 to Wallingford, resound with the joyful notes of 

 this little visitor, ^^'hich arrives punctually between 

 the loth and 20th of April, to enliven our rivers 

 and lakes with its variable song. I say variable, 

 because it has often been noticed that this species 

 is a regular 'mocking bird' — imitating, the note 

 of the Yellow Wagtail, the Skylark, and the 'twit- 



